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Th^  ;  "sfJ^is  Franklin,  1870- 
The  teachings  of  Jesus 


KINGDOM  OF  GOD  SERIES 

Studies  in  the  development  of   the  Kingdom  of  God, 
for  use  consecutively  or  as  independent  units. 


The  Religion  of  Israel 

Twenty-six  lessons. 

The  Religion  of  Judah 

Twenty-six  lessons. 
In*  preparation. 

The  Life  of  Jesus 

Twenty-six  lessons. 

The  Teachings  of  Jesus 

Twenty-six  lessons. 


By  John  Bayne  Ascham 
By  John  Bayne  Ascham 

By  Harris  Franklin  Rail 
By  Harris  Franklin  Rail 


The  Kingdom  of  God  Since  the  Time  of  Christ 

In  preparation.  By  John  Bayne  Ascham 


The  Christian  Hope 

In  preparation. 


By  Harris  Franklin  Rail 


Teacher's  Manuals 

For  each  unit,  ready  or  in  preparation. 


KINGDOM  OF  GOD  SERIES 

Edited  by 
Henry  H.  Meyer  and  David  G.  Downey 


NOV  13  191R 


i'4 


tv.. 


The  Teachings  of  Jesus 


BY 


vV 


HARRIS  FRANKLIN  RALL 


THE  ABINGDON  PRESS 

NEW  YORK  CINCINNATI 


Copyright,  1918,  by 
HARRIS  FRANKLIN  RALL 


The  Bible  text  used  in  this  book  is  taken  from  the  American  Standard  Edition 
of  the  Revised  Bible,  copyright,  1901,  by  Thomas  Nelson  «Sc  Sons,  and  is  used  by 
permission. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Thy  Kingdom  Come  on  Earth 9 

A  Word  from  the  Author 11 

Suggestions  for  Study 14 

CHAPTER 

I.  Jesus  the  Teacher 15 

The  Kingdom  and  the  Bible.  The  Place  of  Christ. 
The  Place  of  Teaching  in  Jesus'  Work.  The 
Teacher's  Creed.  Jesus'  Originality  and  Inde- 
pendence.    The  Ground  of  Jesus'  Authority. 

II.  Jesus'  Method  as  Teacher 25 

The  Character  of  His  Teaching.  Teaching  by  Pic- 
tures. The  Parables.  The  Examples.  The 
Misuse  of  Jesus'  Teaching. 

'  III.  The  Father 34 

The  Idea  of  God  in  Israel.  The  God  of  Jesus.  The 
King  is  Father.  The  Father  is  King.  The  Holi- 
ness of  God. 

IV.  The  Higher  Righteousness 43 

Righteousness  with  the  Jews.  An  Inner  Righteous- 
ness. Righteousness  as  Brotherhood  and  Son- 
ship.  Not  Letter  nor  Law,  but  the  Spirit.  What 
Then  is  Goodness? 

V.  SoNSHip  AS  A  Gift 51 

Grace  as  the  Law  of  God's  Life.  What  is  Sonship 
as  a  Gift?  The  Power  of  a  New  Life.  Other 
Aspects  of  Sonship. 

VI.  Sin,  Repentance,  and  Faith 59 

Jesus'  Teaching  About  Sin.  The  Message  of  Re- 
pentance.    Jesus'  Teaching  About  Faith. 

VII.  Humility  and  Aspiration 67 

HumiUty  and  Desire.  The  Soul  of  a  Christian. 
The  Spirit  of  a  Child.     Saints  and  Sinners. 

VIII.  Devotion  and  Trust 75 

Jesus'  Great  Demand.  What  is  this  Obedience? 
The  Life  of  Trust. 

5 


6  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

IX.  Prayer 83 

Jesus  Summoning  Men  to  Pray.  The  Nature  of 
Prayer.  What  to  Pray  for,  and  How.  Does 
Jesus  Teach  Importunity?     The  Lord's  Prayer. 

X.  The  Law  of  Brotherhood 92 

""        The  Supreme  Rule  of  Life.    The  Scope  of  Brother- 
hood.    Fellowship  in  the  Christian  Church. 

XL  The  Law  of  Reverence  and  Regard 99 

The  Worth  of  a  Man.  The  Law  of  Reverence  in 
Jesus'  Life.  Reverence  for  SeK.  Reverence  for 
Fellow  Man.  The  Rule  of  Reverence  as  an 
Instrument  of  Power. 

XII.  The  Law  of  Grace  and  Good  Will 106 

Was  the  Teaching  New?  The  Law  in  God  and 
Man.  The  Law  of  Forgiveness.  The  Spirit  of 
Good  Will.  Jesus'  Confidence  in  the  Power  of 
Good  Will. 

XIII.  The  Law  of  Service  and  Sacrifice 114 

The  Law  of  Service.  The  Mark  of  a  Christian. 
How  Men  May  Serve  God.  The  Law  of  Sacri- 
fice.    The  Principle  of  Service  To-Day. 

I   XIV.  The  Law  of  Brotherhood  and  the  Nations  ....   122  -^ 

Some  Objections.  Some  Teachings  of  Jesus. 
Csesar  or  Christ.  The  New  Nationalism.  The 
New  Internationalism.    Christianity  and  War.  / 

XV.  The  Disciple  and  the  World 131 

Some  Opposing  Views.  God's  World.  Jesus' 
Words  About  Wealth.  What  Jesus  Teaches. 
The  Christian  Man  in  the  World 

XVI.  Stewardship  and  Life 138 

Jesus'  Words  About  Stewardship.  Two  Funda- 
mental Principles.  Stewardship  as  Broad  as 
Life.  The  Stewardship  of  Business.  The  Spend- 
ing of  Money. 

XVII.  The  Kingdom  as  a  Gift  and  a  Good 146 

What  is  the  Kingdom?  The  Kingdom  as  a  Good. 
What  is  this  Good?  The  Kingdom  as  Life. 
The  Kingdom  as  a  Gift. 

XVIII.  The  Kingdom  as  a  Task 152 

Gifts  and  Tasks.  God's  Rule  as  our  Task.  Eter- 
nal Life  as  a  Task.    The  Summons  of  Jesus. 


CONTENTS  r 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XIX.  The  Kingdom  as  Inward  and  Outward 158 

The  Kingdom  as  Inward.  The  Kingdom  as  Social 
and  Visible.  The  Kingdom  as  a  Fellowship. 
Some  General  Conclusions. 

XX.  The  Kingdom  as  Present  and  Future 166 

The  Kingdom  as  Futm-e.  The  Kingdom  as  Already- 
Present.  The  Kingdom  as  both  Present  and 
Futm-e.     The  Coming  of  the  Kingdom 

XXI.  The  Forms  and  Institutions  op  Religion  ^'^^  \ 

A  Religion  of  the  Spirit.     Jesus'  Attitude  toward  \ 

Jewish  Institutions.     Christian  Institutions  and 
Forms. 

XXII.  Jesus'  Conception  op  His  Mission 182 

Why  Did  Jesus  Come?  What  Did  He  Have  to 
Do?    Jesus  Came  to  Give  His  Life. 

1  XXIII.  What  Jesus  Thought  of  Himselp 189 

What  Jesus  says  of  Himself.  A  Unique  Sonship. 
Jesus  as  Saviour.     Jesus  as  Lord  and  Master. 

)  XXIV.  The  Character  op  Jesus  as  Seen  in  Relation  to 

Men  and  to  His  Work 197 

Friendliness  of  Jesus.  Love  and  Compassion.  The 
Loneliness  of  Jesus.  The  Severity  of  Jesus. 
Loyalty  and  Devotion. 

/    XXV.  The  Character  of  Jesus  as  Seen  in  His  Personal 

'  Life  and  His  Relation  to  God 204 

The  Life  of  Jesus  with  God.    The  Spirit  of  Jesus. 
XXVI.  The  Heart  op  Jesus'  Message — A  Summary 210 

The  Christian  Faith  According  to  Jesus.  The 
Christian  Life  According  to  Jesus.  The  Chris- 
tian Hope  According  to  Jesus. 

Indexes 217 


THY  KINGDOM  COME  ON  EAETH 

The  kingdom  of  God  does  not  complete  itself  in  the 
redemption  of  'flre'individiial.  It  includes  the  individual 
and  infinitely  more.  The  Kingdom  means  that  some  day 
science  and  society,  commerce  and  letters  and  trade  shall 
be  purified,  and  uplifted  till  they  are  in  happy  harmony 
with  the  will  and  purpose  of  the  divine  Father.  Only  so 
can  th^r©^be^  any  thing  lika  an  adequate  answer  to  the  first 
petition  of  our  Lord^s  Prayer,  ^'Thy  kingdom  come  and 
thy  will  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven." 

Jesus  clearly  intended  that  his  disciples  should  interest 
themselves  in  the  temporal  and  earthly  aspects  of  the 
heavenly  Father's  dominion  and  power.  They  are  to  pray 
for  the  coming  of  his  Kingdom,  and  the  accomplishment 
of  his  will  on  earth,  even  as  they  pray  for  daily  bread  or  for 
the  forgiveness  of  sin.  "Thy  kingdom  come.  Give  us  day 
by  day  our  daily  bread.  And  forgive  us  our  sins.''  To  pray 
thus  sincerely  and  intelligently  presupposes  active  partici- 
pation in  the  working  program  of  the  Kingdom;  that  is, 
in  all  those  activities  making  for  that  transformation  and 
reconstruction  of  life  through  which  alone  individuals  and 
organized  society  can  be  brought  into  accord  with  the  will 
and  the  rule  of  God. 

Too  often  in  human  history  the  sharp  contrast  between 
actual  conditions  and  the  higher  demands  of  the  Christian 
ideal  has  discouraged  those  upon  whom  rested  the  responsi- 
bility for  making  that  ideal  real.  A  short-range  view  of  life 
has  obscured  the  actual  growth  of  the  Kingdom  which  the 
larger  perspective  of  history  reveals.  In  the  face  of  the 
overwhelming  preponderance  of  sin  and  selfishness  in  the 
world  the  Christian  Church  has  again  and  again  contented 
itself  with  snatching  as  many  brands  as  possible  from  the 
burning,  without,  at  the  same  time,  seeking  to  organize  the 

9 


.y£i 


10  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

constructive  forces  of  life  and  of  society  for  the  seemingly 
impossible  task  of  putting  out  the  conflagration.  Thus  the 
actual  process  of  the  Kingdom's  coming  among  men  has 
proceeded  for  the  most  part  "without  observation,"  like 
the  first  growth  of  the  seed  that  has  been  buried  in  the  soil. 

It  is_possible  to-day,  in  the  light  of  the  completed  records 
of  the  Old  and  ISTew  Testaments  and  the  subsequent  history 
;i;^-v>-of  the  Christian  centuries,  to  discover  definite  stages  of 
advance  with  successive  landmarks  of  progress  in  the  grad- 
ual establishment  of  the  reign  of  God  in  individual  lives 
and  in  the  institutions  of  mankind.  Such  a  survey  of 
progress  already  achieved  should  hearten  the  organized 
Christian  forces  in  their  forward  look  and  their  endeavor  to 
establish  still  more  firmly  among  men  the  principles  and 
ideals  of  the  Kingdom.  It  should  encourage  the  individual 
to  redouble  his  efforts  and  inspire  in  him  an  unfaltering 
confidence  in  the  ultimate  realization  and  triumph  of  God's 
rule.  Herein  lies  the  purpose  of  the  special  course  of  study 
in  the  development  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  which  this 
volume  constitutes  one  textbook. 

Beginning  with  a  brief  consideration  of  the  funda- 
mentals of  religion  and  the  nature  of  man  and  of  Deity,  the 
studies  trace  the  development  of  religious  experience  and 
ideas  among  the  Hebrews  and  the  Jewish  people  down  to 
the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era.  This  early  period,  cover- 
ing the  development  of  the  Kingdom  in  Old  Testament 
times,  is  presented  in  two  volumes  of  twenty-six  study 
chapters  each,  the  division  being  made  at  the  point  in  the 
historical  development  following  the  rise  of  eighth-century 
prophetism  and  the  fall  of  Samaria.  In  similar  manner 
two  volumes  are  devoted  to  the  Life  and  Teachings  of  Jesus 
which  are  assumed  to  be  of  central  importance  in  the  for- 
ward and  upward  movement  of  humanity.  The  Teachings 
of  JesiLs  are  presented  in  this  volume. 

Subsequent  studies  present  in  two  volumes  a  survey  of 
the  development  of  the  Kingdom  since  the  time  of  Christ, 
including  a  discussion  of  those  social-religious  movements 
of  the  present  day,  the  support  and  inspiration  for  which 
are  to  be  found  primarily  in  the  Christian  conception  of 


A  WORD  FROM  THE  AUTHOR  11 

God  and  the  world.  The  concluding  volume  of  the  series 
is  entitled  The  Christian  Hope  and  presents  in  construc- 
tive form  the  abiding  faith  of  the  Christian  fellowship  in 
the  final  triumph  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 

It  is  confidently  expected  that  in  their  revised  form  these 
studies  will  serve  a  two-fold  purpose.  As  elective  courses 
for  adult  Bible  classes  interested  in  this  vital  and  most 
fascinating  of  all  studies,  their  usefulness  has  been  much 
enhanced.  At  the  same  time  they  are  intended  to  meet  the 
increasing  demand  for  modern  textbooks  written  in  schol- 
arly spirit  but  popular  style  for  preparatory  and  high 
schools  and  for  advanced  groups  in  week-day  religious  in- 
struction in  local  parishes.  That  they  are  admirably  suited 
for  either  purpose  will  be  evident  from  an  examination  of 
any  one  of  the  volumes  in  the  series. 

The  Editors. 


A  WORD  FROM  THE  AUTHOR 

The  character  of  this  volume  is  explained  in  part  by  the 
title  of  the  series  to  which  it  belongs,  "The  Kingdom  of 
God  Series.*^  Under  that  general  title  there  are  a  number 
of  studies  covering  Old  and  New  Testament  times  and 
Christian  history  since  Jesus'  day.  The  title  itself  ex- 
presses the  conviction  that  the  meaning  of  history  is  to  be 
found  in  the  thought  of  a  new  world  which  God  is  shap- 
ing, a  kingdom  of  truth  and  righteousness  which  is  being 
established  upon  earth. 

Such  a  d3rQamic  conception  involves  a  correspondingly 
dynamic  treatment.  Too  often  Bible  study  is  a  gathering 
together  of  all  possible  material,  exegetical,  critical, 
archaeological,  theological,  so  long  as  it  has  some  reference 
to  the  Bible.  The  interest  of  this  series  is  vital.  Its 
primary  concern  is  religious,  that  is,  with  the  way  in 
which  these  records  bear  on  human  faith  and  life,  and  with 
the  light  which  they  throw  upon  this  story  of  the  making 
of  a  new  humanity.  Here  lies  the  supreme  meaning  of  the 
Bible.    And  this  is  history  in  the  true  sense,  not  the  in- 


12  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

discriminate  record  of  past  occurrence,  but  the  study  of 
that  which  lives  on  in  our  institutions  and  ideas  to-day. 

This  interest  governs  us  in  our  study  of  the  teachings 
of  Jesus.  Our  task  is  first  of  all  historical  in  the  narrower 
sense,  namely,  to  understand  the  message  of  Jesus  in  the 
setting  of  his  time  and  in  that  succession  in  which  he 
came.  Critical  results  need  to  be  utilized,  even  where 
critical  processes  are  not  set  forth.  The  ever-present  danger 
must  be  avoided  of  making  Jesus  speak  as  a  "modern," 
whether  liberal  or  conservative,  theologian  or  social  re- 
former. Nor  are  we  to  extort  answers  to  questions  which 
Jesus  never  considered.  But  when  we  have  agreed  upon 
the  need  of  this  strict  historical  method,  then  there  are 
other  interests  still  to  be  weighed.  We  study  the  teach- 
ings of  Jesus  because  he  has  given  the  supreme  answer  to 
man's  deepest  questions.  Our  question  is.  What  were  the 
great  truths  that  formed  his  faith?  What  was  that  mes- 
sage which  with  increasing  power  has  commanded  the  con- 
science and  convictions  of  men  even  to  our  day  ? 

A  Life  of  Jesus,  by  the  same  author,  has  been  issued 
as  a  companion  volume.  It  should  be  at  hand  for  refer- 
ence or  for  collateral  reading.  The  message  of  Jesus  and 
his  life  must  be  studied  together  if  either  is  to  be  rightly 
understood. 

Haeeis  Feanklin  Eall. 


SUGGESTIONS  FOR  STUDY 

At  the  close  of  each  chapter  the  student  will  find  Directions 
for  Study.  Look  at  these  before  beginning  the  reading  of  the 
chapter,    A  few  general  suggestions  are  here  given. 

First,  get  a  clear  idea  of  the  purpose  of  the  book.  Back  of 
it  lies  a  twofold  conviction:  that  Jesus  had  a  message  for 
men,  clear  and  definite,  and  answering  the  great  questions  of 
life;  and  that  this  message  of  Jesus  has  been  one  of  the  great 
forces  in  human  history  that  has  wrought  for  the  coming  of 
the  kingdom  of  God.  This  suggests  the  double  interest  of 
this  book:  What  did  Jesus  teach,  and  what  has  his  teaching 
meant  for  human  faith  and  life? 

In  order  to  understand  the  teachings  of  Jesus,  they  must 
first  of  all  be  closely  related  to  his  life  and  times.  Read  and 
refer  to  the  Life  of  Jesus  issued  as  a  companion  to  this 
volume. 

While  the  individual  subjects  are  separately  studied,  remem- 
ber that  the  teachings  of  Jesus  are  not  a  string  of  opinions 
or  a  collection  of  doctrines.  His  words  have  a  living  source 
and  a  common  center:  his  life  with  God  and  his  conception 
of  God. 

As  you  begin  the  study  of  a  chapter,  read  carefully  the  in- 
troductory paragraph  which  usually  makes  the  connection 
with  what  precedes  and  gives  the  new  theme.  Then  read  the 
chapter  through  at  a  sitting  and  grasp  its  outline  as  a  whole, 
joining  it  to  what  has  gone  before. 

Now  go  over  it  again  more  carefully.  Read  the  Bible  refer- 
ences in  the  Directions  for  Study  and  in  the  text.  These  form 
the  real  subject  for  study.  Form  your  own  conclusions  on  the 
basis  of  the  Gospels  themselves. 

Answer  carefully  the  questions  raised  in  the  Directions  for 
Study,  writing  the  answers  out  if  possible. 

Write,  and  write  constantly.  Keep  a  special  notebook  for 
this  study.  Write  in  it  the  answers  to  all  questions.  A  most 
helpful  plan  is  to  write  an  outline  of  each  chapter,  or  to  sum 
up  its  argument  in  your  own  words.  Write  out  the  ideas  sug- 
gested to  you  by  the  Gospels  or  by  the  discussion.  Nothing 
is  more  helpful  to  the  student  than  constant  writing,  especially 
if  studying  alone.  It  compels  more  thorough  work,  it  clarifies 
the  thought  and  tests  our  knowledge,  and  it  fixes  in  mind  what 
we  have  learned. 

Ask  yourself  constantly  what  this  all  means  for  yourself 
and  for  the  life  of  the  world  about  you.  To  do  so  will  not  only 
bring  profit  to  yourself,  but  meaning  and  zest  to  all  your 
study. 


14 


CHAPTEE  I 
JESUS  THE  TEACHER 

The  Kingdom  and  the  Bible 

One  of  the  great  Christian  ideas  which  is  taking  hold  of 
the  thought  of  our  day  is  that  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  Set 
by  Jesus  in  the  forefront  of  his  teaching,  neglected  in 
later  years  or  limited  in  its  meaning,  we  have  come  more 
and  more  to  see  its  significance.  It  has  given  to  us  a  Chris- 
tian view  of  history.  Hiiimaxiity's  stnry  is  na-unm waning 
tangle  of  eyents^^n^r  is^  the  worM  mere  machine  that 
brindly"grinds  us  all  at  last  to  dust.  All  this  would  give  us 
happenings^  not  history.  We  have  history  only  when  events 
have  a  meanings  when  there  is,  movement  toward  a  goal. 
Eor  Christian  tiioj3£ht^_Gx)dJs_JlLe--«M>¥ing.  f^  the 

ffial  goSTFIKat  rule  of  truth  and  right  and  peace  which 
willl)rrhg  man's  highest  life  and  which  we  call  the  kingdom 
(or  kingsliip)  of  God. 

If  this,  then,  be  our  thought,  that  God  is  in  his  world 
working  out  such  ends,  then  it  will  affect  definitely  our 
conception  of  the  Bible  and  our  mode  of  study.  The  Bible 
is  not  a  book  apart  from  the  world,  not  so  many  words 
dropped  down  out  of  the  sky.  It  is  the  evidence  of  this 
work  of  God  in  the  world;  it  is  the  fruit  of  that  higher 
life  of  men  which  has  been  wrought  by  his  Spirit.  Back  of 
the  Bible  lies  this  great  movement  which  we  call  the  de- 
velopment of  the  Kingdom.  Out  of  this  movement  the 
Bible  has  come,  and  of  that  movement  it  is  the  witness. 

Dynamic  Study  of  the  Bible. — All  this  suggests  a  certain 
mode  of  Bible  study.  It  is  not  enough  to  ask  what  a  cer- 
tain Bible  verse  means.  It  is  not  enough  to  ask  when  and 
by  whom  a  book  was  written,  what  facts  it  contains,  or  what 
doctrines  it  teaches.  We  need  a  dynamic  study  of  the 
Bible.  These  events  that  are  recorded,  what  do  they  mean 
for  this  movement  of  the  kingdom  of  God?    These  teach- 

15 


V-' 


16  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

ings,  how  do  they  witness  to  the  growing  truth  and  the 
clearer  light  which  God  is  giving  to  men?  This  life  of 
prophet  and  people,  is  it  the  life  of  God  that  is  to  make 
at  length  the  new  world  ?  This  book  is  one  of  a  series  in 
which  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New  are  studied  from 
this  standpoint.  In  a  companion  volume  the  life  of  Jesus 
is  presented.  In  this  we  study  the  teachings  of  Jesus. 
^Ye  want  to  know  just  what  message  Jesus  brought  to 
men,  what  he  had  to  say  about  the  great  questions  of  God 
and  our  life  here  and  our  future,  and  what  this  message 
has  meant  for  the  growth  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  Here 
is  the  heart  of  all  Bible  study,  for  in  Jesus  we  have  the 
clearest  word  that  God  ever  spoke  to  men  and  the  greatest 
deed  that  God  ever  wrought  for  men. 

The  Place  of  Christ 

The  Return  to  Christ. — The  return  to  Christ  has  been, 
one  of  the  great  religious  movements  of  our  age.  Never 
before  have  the  life  and  words  of  Jesus  been  studied  with 
such  care  and  interest.  The  volumes  which  present  these 
themes  are  numbered  by  the  thousands,  and  of  all  these 
books  hardly  a  single  one  had  been  written  a  hundred  years 
ago.  To-day,  as  never  before,  we  see  that  Christianity 
means  Jesus  Christ.  Other  things  have  their  place — the 
church,  the  creeds,  the  forms;  but  Christ  stands  supreme, 
and  all  the  rest  must  constantly  be  measured  and  tested 
by  him.  This  has  not  always  been  so.  Christian  men  have 
always  put  Christ's  name  first,  but  in  practice,  when  men 
asked  what  Christianity  really  was,  frequently  something 
else  came  in  between.  Sometimes  it  was  the  church,  some- 
times a  creed,  sometimes  the  letter  of  the  Bible. 

His  Supreme  Authority. — We  know  to-day  that  there 
can  be  only  one  final  authority  for  us,  and  that  is  the  mind 
of  God  as  revealed  in  Jesus  Christ.  The  church  has  au- 
thority only  so  far  as  it  is  filled  with  the  Spirit  of  Christ 
and  is  doing  his  will.  The  creeds  have  authority  just  so 
far  as  they  set  forth  the  truth  that  is  in  Christ.  And  the 
■Bible  itself  must  be  used  with  constant  reference  to  Christ. 


JESUS  THE  TEACHER  17 

The  authority  of  the  Bible  does  not  lie  in  its  letter.  We 
cannot  pick  out  passages  here  and  there  as  we  will.  Here 
too  Christ  is  the  final  standard.  When  he  rules  out  the 
ancient  law  of  divorce,  it  must  fall,  even  though  it  stands 
in  the  Bible.  If  his  spirit  condemns  the  morals  of  Judges 
or  Joshua,  then  we  cannot  defend  them.  More  important, 
however,  is  this :  the  study  of  Jesus  shows  us  that  the  Bible 
represents  not  a  dead  letter  but  a  living  movement.  What 
we  see  is  not  so  much  the  imperfection  of  the  Old  Testament 
as  its  preparation  for  the  New. 

This,  then,  is  the  reason  why  we  give  special  study  to 
the  message  of  Jesus,  a  message  which  he  gave  to  us  in  his 
spirit  and  life  as  well  as  in  his  words.  Here  is  God's  full 
and  final  answer  to  the  cry  of  man.  The  great  philosopher 
Kant  once  said  that  all  the  questions  of  men  might  be 
summed  up  in  these  three  queries:  "What  can  I  know?" 
"What  must  I  do?"  "What  may  I  hope  for?''  Christ  is 
the  answer  to  all  three.  We  cry:  "What  may  I  know? 
What  is  the  meaning  of  this  world?  What  is  the  power 
back  of  it?  What  is  my  life?"  Jesus  answers  all  with 
one  word,  "Our  Father."  His  love  and  his  power  are  the 
key  to  all.  We  ask :  "What  must  I  do  ?  What  shall  be  the 
rule  of  my  life?  What  do  I  owe  to  others?"  Again  the 
answer  is  with  Jesus :  "That  you  may  be  children  of  your 
Father."  To  show  the  spirit  of  the  Father  in  our  life  with 
our  brothers,  that  is  all.  "What  may  I  hope  for  ?"  we  ask 
again.  "What  shall  be  the  end  of  human  life  and  strife 
on  this  globe?  And  what  of  the  single  human  life?  If 
a  man  die,  shall  he  live  again?"  Again  Jesus  answers  all 
with  one  phrase:  "The  kingdom  of  God."  This  heavenly 
Father  is  to  rule ;  that  means  the  kingdom  of  righteousness 
here,  that  means  the  eternal  kingdom  beyond,  that  means 
life  for  us  now,  that  means  life  to  come. 

The  Place  of  Teaching  in  Jesus'  Work 

His  Constant  Task. — "And  Jesus  went  about  in  all 
Galilee,  teaching  in  their  synagogues,  and  preaching  the 
gospel  of  the  kingdom."     It  was  thus,  as  a  teacher,  that 


18  THE  TEACHINaS  OF  JESUS 

Jesus  began  his  work.  And  that  is  what  we  see  as  we  follow 
him  month  after  month;  he  is  ever  teaching.  Now  he 
stands  in  the  Nazareth  synagogue  or  in  the  magnificent 
temple  court  at  Jerusalem,  now  by  the  side  of  the  lake 
where  the  pressing  throngs  crowd  him  into  a  boat.  Now 
it  is  on  the  road  as  he  walks  with  his  friends,  again  at  the 
table  where  he  has  been  bidden  as  guest.  Sometimes  it  is 
to  crowds  that  fill  the  house  and  overflow  into  the  street, 
or  that  cover  the  hillside;  again  it  is  to  one  woman  by 
the  wayside,  one  visitor  at  night,  or  a  few  mothers  in  the 
market  place.  Always  he  is  teaching,  talking  to  men  about 
the  Kingdom,  showing  men  God  and  the  life  of  his  sons. 
Sometimes  it  is  to  idle  throngs  that  listen  and  turn  away, 
sometimes  to  wondering  crowds  that  hang  upon  his  words, 
again  to  scowling  priests  or  the  crafty  pupils  of  the  scribes 
who  are  waiting  to  entrap  him,  again  it  is  to  his  beloved 
companions.  He  takes  weeks  and  months  just  to  teach  that 
last  little  group.  His  last  days  are  spent,  in  the  midst  of 
imminent  peril,  in  teaching ;  and  when  he  leaves  the  temple 
for  the  last  time  and  goes  to  the  sacred  upper  room  with 
the  twelve,  it  is  to  use  those  last  precious  hours  to  give  one 
more  lesson  to  his  followers. 

The  Meaning  of  Teaching. — It  is  plain  that  this  work  of 
Jesus  meant  far  more  than  what  usually  passes  under  the 
name  of  teaching.  It  was  no  mere  giving  of  information 
or  training  of  the  intellect.  Education  is  the  giving  of 
self  and  the  training  of  the  whole  spirit  of  a  man.  "The 
teacher  is  the  life-sharer,^'  writes  a  modern  educator.  "The 
educational  process  at  bottom  is  the  sharing  of  life."  The 
work  of  Jesus  is  the  best  commentary  on  this  statement. 
It  is  a  mistaken  conception  of  teaching  which  causes  some 
people  in  the  church  to  oppose  regeneration  to  education 
and  to  insist  that  we  need  more  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  less 
of  religious  culture.  Jesus  makes  plain  two  facts  concern- 
ing religious  education :  first,  the  great  instrument  of  God's 
Spirit  is  the  truth ;  the  truth  is  what  God  uses  to  win  men 
and  to  make  men.  Second,  that  truth  must  be  in  the  life 
of  the  teacher  that  it  may  bring  forth  life  in  the  learner. 
When  Phillips  Brooks  defined  preaching  as  "truth  through 


JESUS  THE  TEACHER  19 

personality/'  he  told  what  true  teaching  was.  We  do  not 
wonder  then  that  the  great  leaders  in  the  Christian  Church, 
a  Paul,  an  Augustine,  a  Luther,  and  a  Wesley,  were  above 
all  else  teachers. 

The  Teacher's  Creed 

A  Parable  for  a  Teacher. — The  Parable  of  the  Sower 
might  be  called  the  teacher's  creed.  I  doubt  not  it  was 
spoken  some  time  when  the  disciples  were  discouraged  at 
the  slow  progress  that  was  being  made.  It  seemed  so  slow, 
so  futile,  just  to  go  from  village  to  village,  talking  to  folks, 
explaining,  inviting.  The  crowds  that  followed  one  day 
melted  away  the  next.  To  do  some  great  miracle,  to  com- 
mand a  great  following,  that  would  have  seemed  to  them 
worth  while.  And  so  Jesus  told  them  the  story  of  the 
sower  (Mark  4.  1-9).  "I  am  a  sower,"  he  said  to  them. 
"There  are  some  souls  on  whom  my  words  fall,  that  are  like 
the  beaten  ground  where  no  seed  can  take  root.  Then  there 
are  folks  who  accept  the  truth  at  once,  but  have  no  depth 
of  understanding  or  purpose;  they  shout  to-day,  but  for- 
get to-morrow.  They  are  like  that  place  in  the  tield  where 
a  little  soil  covers  the  rock,  where  the  wheat  springs  up 
quickly  only  to  wither  away.  And  there  are  the  divided 
souls.  They  are  interested  in  my  words,  but  they  have 
other  interests,  too,  roots  of  selfishness  and  sin  that  are  in 
them ;  and  these  other  interests  crowd  out  what  I  say.  All 
this  I  see,  but  I  see  something  more.  I  see  the  good  soil, 
the  simple  earnest  folks  who  take  my  words  into  honest 
hearts.  And  I  know  the  seed:  it  has  life  in  it.  I  know 
the  power  of  the  truth :  and  I  know  that  it  will  bring  forth 
thirty,  sixty,  a  hundredfold." 

Jesus'  Trust  in  the  Truth  and  in  Men. — This  was  Jesus' 
creed  as  a  teacher.  He  believed  in  the  truth  and  its  power. 
He  flung  it  forth  with  prodigal  hand  and  without  fear  as 
to  results.  It  might  grow  slowly,  but  it  had  the  life  of  God 
in  it.  And  this  truth  was  his  trust.  He  did  not  organize 
a  church  or  write  a  creed.  He  did  not  try  to  win  the  help 
of  the  people  of  influence,  the  scribes  and  priests.  He 
simply  went  forth  to  sow. 


20  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

He  believed  not  only  in  the  seed  that  he  sowed,  but  also 
in  the  soil.  Nothing  is  more  wonderful  than  his  confidence 
that  men  could  receive  his  truth  and  rise  to  the  higher 
life  that  he  proclaimed.  He  set  that  truth  before  all  kinds 
of  folks:  the  reprobate  taxgatherer,  the  outcast  woman, 
the  narrow  Pharisee,  the  man  of  the  crowd,  the  thief  on 
the  cross.  And  this  faith  of  the  teacher  was  not  more 
astonishing  than  the  results  that  followed.  Buried  aspira- 
tions sprang  up  at  his  touch.  Men  rose  to  walk  in  newness 
of  life,  to  be  the  men  that  he  saw  they  might  be.  When 
Christian  missions  have  taken  the  highest  ideals  to  pagan 
Africans  and  Fijian  cannibals  and  debased  Tierra  del 
Fuegians,  as  well  as  to  the  down-and-out  of  the  great  city, 
they  have  simply  shown  this  faith  of  their  Master. 

Jesus'  Okiginality  and  Independence 

What  impressed  the  hearers  of  Jesus  first  of  all  was  his 
independence.  It  was  in  such  absolute  contrast  to  the 
scribes,  who  were  the  professional  theologians  and  acknowl- 
edged authorities.  The  test  of  a  scribe  was  his  knowledge 
of  what  others  had  said,  his  great  duty  was  to  remember 
the  traditions  of  the  past.  Jesus  "taught  them  as  one  hav- 
ing authority,  and  not  as  their  scribes."  This  independence 
of  Jesus  is  seen  in  his  life.  He  knew  himself  as  Messiah, 
and  yet  he  went  contrary  to  everything  that  men  looked  for 
in  that  figure.  They  looked  for  one  to  come  in  glory;  he 
took  the  way  of  a  servant.  They  thought  of  a  king;  he 
became  a  humble  wandering  preacher.  They  expected  one 
who  would  convince  people  by  his  miraculous  power; 
Jesus  refused  to  work  wonders  simply  to  astonish  or  win 
men.  This  young  Galilaean,  a  peasant  from  a  petty  village, 
set  himself  against  all  the  leaders  of  theology  and  the  rulers 
of  the  church.  He  had  to  oppose,  indeed,  even  his  own 
family  and  friends  and  townspeople.  And  all  this  was  done 
among  a  people  which  reverenced  authority  and  worshiped 
tradition  to  a  degree  probably  nowhere  practiced  in  the 
world  to-day. 

The  Old  Testament  in  Jesus'  Life. — Did  not  Jesus  recog- 


JESUS  THE  TEACHER  21 

nize  one  authority  at  least — that  of  the  Old  Testament? 
As  we  study  Jesus'  relation  to  the  Old  Testament,  we  are 
struck  first  by  his  deep  reverence  for  it,  and  then  by  the 
constant  use  that  he  makes  of  it.  In  these  pages  he  found 
God's  presence,  God's  word  to  his  people  of  old,  and  God's 
word  for  himself.  He  does  not  claim  to  come  with  any 
new  religion;  it  is  the  God  of  Abraham,  and  of  Isaac,  and 
of  Jacob  that  he  proclaims  (Mark  12.  26).  He  censures 
the  scribes  not  for  following  the  Scriptures,  but  for  making 
void  its  words  by  their  traditions  (Mark  7.  6-13).  He 
answers  his  enemies  with  words  from  its  pages,  and  his 
speech  is  full  of  Old  Testament  phrases  and  allusions.  The 
place  of  the  Bible  is  even  greater  in  his  life  than  in  his 
teaching.  It  gives  him  wisdom  and  a  weapon  in  his  first 
temptation.  It  gives  him  light  when  he  seeks  the  Father's 
will  for  his  life ;  Isaiah's  passages  about  the  servant  confirm 
him  in  the  way  of  service  and  suffering  that  he  has  chosen. 
And  in  the  last  dread  agony,  it  is  the  words  of  one  of  the 
psalms  that  are  caught  from  his  lips  by  those  that  stand 
near  the  cross. 

Jesus'  Discrimination. — And  yet  even  here  we  see  the 
independence  of  Jesus.  It  appears  in  the  way  in  which 
Jesus  selects  from  the  Old  Testament.  He  not  only  uses, 
but  he  passes  by.  He  chooses  that  which  is  congruous  with 
his  own  spirit  and  message:  not  the  legal  and  ceremonial, 
but  the  moral  and  spiritual.  His  quotations  are  mainly 
from  the  Psalms  and  prophetic  books,  and  from  books  of 
prophetic  spirit  like  Deuteronomy.  Especially  significant 
is  his  use  of  the  Messianic  passages.  Most  of  the  Messianic 
passages  do  not  seem  to  have  influenced  him  at  all,  espe- 
cially those  that  speak  of  the  Messiah's  glory  and  his 
destruction  of  his  foes  (see,  for  example.  Psalm  2;  Isaiah 
11.  4).  He  read  Isaiah  61.  1,  2  in  the  Nazareth  synagogue, 
but  stopped  in  the  midst  of  the  sentence  before  the  words, 
"the  day  of  vengeance  of  our  God."  The  passage  that  in- 
fluenced him  most,  it  would  seem,  was  one  which  none  of 
the  Jewish  scholars  of  his  day,  so  far  as  we  know,  had 
thought  of  referring  to  the  Messiah,  namely,  the  passage 
of  the  suffering  servant  (Isaiah  52.  13  to  53.  12). 


22  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

His  Claim  to  Higher  Authority. — But  Jesus  does  more 
than  select:  he  sets  his  own  authority  definitely  above  the 
Old  Testament.  Some  of  its  rules  he  disregarded.  Despite 
Leviticus  13  and  15,  he  did  not  shun  or  send  away  the 
leper  and  the  woman  with  an  issue  of  blood.  Likewise  he 
sets  himself  above  the  Sabbath  law  (Mark  2.  28).  Other 
laws  he  specifically  corrects  or  abrogates.  The  Old  Testa- 
ment asserted  the  principle  of  retaliation  (Exodus  21.  24; 
Leviticus  24.  19,  20;  Deuteronomy  19.  21) ;  he  swept  this 
aside  and  proclaimed  the  sole  law  of  love.  He  puts  aside 
the  Mosaic  law  of  divorce  (Mark  10.  2-12,  as  against 
Deuteronomy  24.  1).  The  Old  Testament  made  provision 
for  oaths;  he  forbade  them  (Matthew  5.  34).  Most  signifi- 
cant is  what  Jesus  said  when  they  accused  his  disciples  of 
eating  with  unwashed  hands  (Mark  7.  14-23).  First  he 
showed  how  the  Pharisees  were  defeating  the  law  by  their 
rules.  Then  he  went  further  and  laid  down  the  principle : 
what  comes  out  of  a  man  defiles  him,  not  what  goes  in. 
His  meaning  is  perfectly  clear.  A  man  is  not  made  evil 
by  material  things,  wdiether  by  the  food  he  eats  or  the 
objects  he  touches.  It  is  only  moral  things  that  make  him 
evil,  the  things  within  his  own  heart.  It  is  not  merely  the 
rules  of  the  scribes  that  Jesus  corrects  here,  but  all  that 
Levitical  law  which  makes  defilement  a  physical  instead 
of  a  moral  matter  (Leviticus  11  to  15). 

The  Ground  of  Jesus'  Authoeity 

A  Unique  Relation. — How  is  it  that  Jesus  assumes  such 
authority  ?  There  are  two  reasons,  though  at  bottom  these 
are  one.  First,  Jesus  is  conscious  of  a  unique  relation  to 
his  Father.  "All  things  have  been  delivered  unto  me  of 
my  Father:  and  no  one  knoweth  the  Son,  save  the  Father; 
neither  doth  any  know  the  Father,  save  the  Son,  and  he 
to  whomsoever  the  Son  willeth  to  reveal  him'^  (Matthew 
11.  27).  He  was  not  one  Teacher  among  others;  he  was 
the  Teacher,  the  JMaster  (Matthew  23.  8,  19).  He  was  one 
among  many  brethren,  and  yet  he  was  the  Son  in  a  special 
sense.    God  speaks  to  him  through  the  Old  Testament,  but 


JESUS  THE  TEACHEE  23 

he  is  not  dependent  upon  this.  The  Father  speaks  to  him ; 
the  Father's  Spirit  and  the  Father's  will  are  in  his  own 
heart.  He  does  not  ask,  therefore,  what  others  have  taught 
or  what  is  written.  He  speaks  directly  out  of  his  own  heart ; 
and  so  sure  is  he  that  he  even  challenges  at  times  those 
sacred  writings  of  his  people  in  which  he  himself  had  been 
reared.  But  what  he  says  thus  from  his  own  heart  goes 
straight  with  conviction  to  the  hearts  of  others. 

A  Unique  Mission. — Second,  Jesus  is  conscious  of  a 
special  mission  in  the  world.  He  is  the  Messiah;  he  is  the 
beginning  of  a  new  day,  the  founder  of  the  Kingdom. 
That  does  not  mean  that  Jesus  thought  of  himself  as  a 
revolutionary.  He  says  of  himself  that  he  is  a  f ulfiller,  not 
a  destroyer  (Matthew  5.  17).  He  recognizes  God's  work 
in  all  that  has  gone  before.  But  the  new  cannot  be 
hampered  and  held  by  the  old.  It  may  keep  the  old  truth, 
but  it  must  make  its  own  forms.  The  old  wine  skins  will 
no  longer  do ;  you  cannot  use  the  new  cloth  simply  to  patch 
up  the  old  clothes  (Matthew  9.  16,  17).  Long  ago  the 
prophet  had  looked  forward  to  a  new  day,  when  religion 
should  be  an  inner  spirit  and  power  in  men's  lives,  and 
not  a  set  of  laws  above  them  (Jeremiah  31.  31-34).  Jesus 
knew  that  he  had  brought  that  day  and  that  covenant 
(Luke  22.  20).  The  new  religion  of  the  spirit  could  not 
be  bound  by  the  old  form  or  the  old  letter.  And  so  Jesus 
puts  them  aside.  What  Jesus  here  asserted  Paul  fought 
for  later  on  when  he  denounced  those  who  insisted  that 
Christians  must  keep  the  old  forms  like  circumcision,  and 
the  old  days  like  the  Jewish  Sabbath  (Galatians  5.  6; 
Colossians  2.  16,  17). 

Directions  fob  Study 

Scripture  references:  Mark  4.  1-9;  Matthew  7.  28,  29;  Mark 
12.  26,  29-31;  10.  2-12;  Matthew  5.  38,  39;  Mark  7.  14-23;  2.  18-22. 

Review  in  your  own  mind  the  life  of  Christ,  and  make  a 
list  of  all  the  scenes  that  you  can  recall  in  which  Jesus  appears 
as  teacher.  Follow  this  by  reading  the  first  sections  of  this 
chapter. 

Read  "The  Teacher's  Creed"  and  the  parable  of  Mark  4.  1-9. 
Consider  the  emphasis  which  Luther,  Wesley,  and  other  great 


PA  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

leaders  have  placed  upon  teaching  and  preaching.  What  does 
this  parable  mean  for  the  student? 

Read  the  sections  on  Jesus'  originality  and  his  attitude  to- 
ward the  Old  Testament,  looking  up  all  the  references. 

Discuss  the  Christian  use  of  the  Old  Testament  as  suggested 
by  this  chapter. 


CHAPTEE  II 

JESUS'  METHOD  AS  TEACHER 

There  are  two  reasons  why  we  wish  to  study  Jesus' 
method  as  a  teacher.  We  should  like,  first  of  all,  to  learn 
the  secret  of  his  success.  Here  is  one  whose  work  covered 
but  a  few  months,  or  at  most  a  few  years.  He  penned  no 
line,  nor  arranged  for  others  to  write  down  what  he  said. 
And  yet  his  words,  flung  upon  the  air,  have  lived  on  im- 
perishable; their  light  has  guided  the  faith  of  men,  and 
their  power  has  transformed  human  life  and  history. 
Second,  we  must  study  the  method  of  his  teaching  in  order 
to  interpret  his  words  rightly.  Few  teachers  have  been  so 
often  misunderstood,  and  this  has  been  largely  because  men 
did  not  understand  his  way  of  teaching. 

The  Charactek  of  His  Teaching 

He  Sets  Forth  ITo  System. — The  ordinary  teacher  has  a 
more  or  less  complete  system  of  ideas  which  he  sets  forth 
in  order  one  after  the  other.  That  was  not  the  method  of 
Jesus.  He  gave  to  men  a  wonderful  revelation  of  God ;  but 
he  never  said  to  his  disciples,  "Now  I  will  tell  you  about 
the  doctrine  of  God  and  prove  his  being  and  describe  his 
attributes."  He  taught  simply  as  the  occasion  demanded. 
His  great  messages  were  called  forth  by  the  need  of  the 
hour  or  suggested  by  some  incident  of  the  way.  He  sees  a 
dead  sparrow  and  makes  it  a  text  from  which  to  preach  on 
God's  might  and  God's  care ;  not  even  that  sparrow  can  fall 
without  your  Father,  he  says.  He  is  criticized  for  associat- 
ing with  sinners;  his  answer  is  the  story  of  the  prodigal 
son  with  its  revelation  of  a  God  of  mercy.  A  woman  by  a 
wayside  well  calls  forth  the  message  about  worshiping  in 

35 


26  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

spirit  and  in  truth.  The  effort  of  disciples  to  keep  some 
little  children  away  brought  out  the  great  truth  that  the 
kingdom  of  God  belongs  only  to  the  childlike. 

He  Is  Interested  in  Life,  Not  Theory. — Too  often  the  in- 
terest of  the  church  has  been  in  doctrine  for  its  own  sake; 
to  have  correct  beliefs  was  considered  the  most  important 
matter  in  religion.  Jesus  cared  for  men  and  not  for  ideas. 
The  truth  that  he  cared  about  was  truth  that  would  make 
for  life.  That  is  why  there  are  so  many  subjects  about 
which  he  did  not  speak.  His  silence  here  means  as  much 
as  his  speech.  When  men  brought  him  matters  of  dispute 
or  curious  theory,  he  always  turned  them  to  something  vital. 
These  men  whom  Pilate  killed,  they  asked  him,  were  they 
sinners  above  others  ?  That  is  an  idle  question,  says  Jesus : 
here  is  something  more  important:  If  you  do  not  repent, 
you  will  all  likewise  perish  (Luke  13.  1-5). 

He  Sees  Eternal  Truth  in  Common  Things. — Although 
Jesus'  teaching  is  practical,  it  is  not  shallow ;  he  deals  with 
common  needs  and  common  duties,  but  he  lifts  them  up  to 
the  plane  of  the  eternal.  It  is  the  common  life  in  which 
he  is  interested:  how  to  love  and  help  folks,  how  to  be  a 
good  neighbor,  how  to  have  peace  and  joy.  But  he  brings 
heaven  itself  down  to  light  up  these  common  things.  He 
tells  those  that  clothe  the  naked  and  visit  the  prisoner  that 
they  are  doing  it  to  the  Christ  himself.  Loving  your 
enemy,  he  says,  is  nothing  less  than  being  a  son  of  the  Most 
High  God.  And  the  peace  that  he  gave  men  was  to  come 
because  they  saw  God  himself  in  their  world  and  in  all  their 
life. 

His  Knowledge  of  Men. — And  this  teacher  knew  men; 
that  was  another  secret  of  his  power.  He  had  not  been 
brought  up  apart  in  some  king's  palace.  He  had  lived  the 
common  life.  He  knew  what  hard  work  was.  As  the  eldest 
son  of  a  widowed  mother,  he  knew  what  it  meant  to  plan 
and  provide.  He  knew  the  burdens  and  sorrows  of  common 
folks.  He  knew  their  sins:  their  shallowness  and  selfish- 
ness, their  love  of  wealth,  their  pride,  their  worry.  He 
knew  the  nobler  part  that  was  in  them,  the  higher  possi- 
bilities that  lay  buried  under  sin.    He  knew  the  man  that 


JESUS'  METHOD  AS  TEACHER  27 

might  be^  as  well  as  the  man  that  was,  and  his  faith  in  the 
better  man  became  a  power  in  such  men's  lives.  Other  men, 
as  well  as  he,  saw  Levi,  the  despised  taxgatherer;  he  alone 
saw  Matthew,  the  apostle  and  evangelist. 

Teaching  by  Pictures 

Its  Value  and  Power. — Jesus'  teaching  was  picture-teach- 
ing, and  a  large  part  of  its  simplicity  and  power  lies  here. 
Modern  education  knows  the  value  of  the  appeal  to  the  eye, 
and  the  ^^movies"  show  how  popular  such  an  appeal  is. 
Nowhere  is  the  picture  more  needed  than  in  teaching  spirit- 
ual truths.  It  holds  the  indifferent  man,  it  convinces  the 
unwilling,  and  it  makes  the  simplest  and  dullest  to  see. 
And  never  was  one  who  used  pictures  like  Jesus.  He  took 
the  familiar  things  of  common  life,  bird  and  beast,  grain 
and  weed  and  flower,  salt  and  seed  and  candle,  men  at  work 
and  children  at  play ;  but  these  common  things  he  made  to 
speak  to  men  of  all  the  high  truths  of  heaven  and  earth. 

We  note  the  simplicity  and  clearness  of  the  teaching. 
Men  were  afraid  to  trust  God,  he  was  so  holy  and  so  far 
off.  Jesus  took  his  picture  from  the  most  familiar  experi- 
ences of  life.  He  put  that  picture  into  one  word,  and  into 
that  word  he  packed  a  whole  creed.  He  bade  men  say, 
"Father,"  and  in  that  word  gave  them  a  new  faith.  He 
found  men  burdened  with  anxiety  and  fear;  he  said,  "Con- 
sider the  lilies."  He  saw  them  scrupulous  about  the  rules 
of  religion,  but  hard  and  selfish  at  heart;  he  said,  "You 
must  be  children  of  your  Father." 

But  simple  as  Jesus'  teaching  is,  his  phrases  are  crowded 
with  meaning.  Single  phrases  have  whole  sermons  in  them, 
driven  home  in  unforge table  pictures.  It  was  a  customary 
form  of  Jewish  teaching,  as  was  the  parable,  but  used  by 
none  other  as  by  Jesus.  These  sermons  in  a  phrase  have 
become  part  of  our  common  speech :  a  house  divided  against 
itself,  wolves  in  sheep's  clothing,  counting  the  cost,  grapes 
from  thorns,  whited  sepulchers,  the  first  shall  be  last,  salt 
of  the  earth. 

The  Poetry  of  Jesus. — A  separate  lesson  might  well  be 


28  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

given  to  the  study  of  Jesus  as  poet.  It  was  not,  of  course, 
the  poetry  of  labored  effort,  but  the  speech  of  a  soul  that, 
itself  filled  with  beauty  as  with  truth,  saw  all  things  truly 
and  spoke  all  things  well.  Not  even  the  translation  from 
Aramaic  to  Greek,  and  again  from  Greek  to  English,  can 
hide  from  us  this  form.  Jesus'  parables  are  like  pictures. 
There  is  perfect  composition,  no  line  out  of  place.  There 
is  the  frugality  of  the  artist;  not  a  word  can  be  spared, 
nor  need  another  word  be  added.  Each  phrase,  each  picture, 
has  a  certain  finality.  We  feel  that  this  has  been  said  once 
for  all;  hereafter  we  can  only  repeat.  And  so  we  do  not 
wonder  that  these  phrases  have  passed  over  into  the  common 
speech  of  all  lands  and  ages. 

Hebrew  poetry  did  not  use  rime  and  did  not  depend  upon 
meter  as  commonly  with  us.  In  this  respect  it  was  more 
like  the  modern  vers  libre.  Its  special  mark  is  parallelism. 
Line  is  placed  by  line,  sometimes  repeating  the  thought, 
sometimes  contrasting,  but  always  so  that  these  lines  to- 
gether form  a  whole.  The  psalms  give  the  best  examples. 
To  this  form  of  poetry  the  speech  of  Jesus  rises  again  and 
again.  Here,  for  example,  is  the  close  of  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount.  The  parable  forms  two  stanzas.  In  each  of 
these,  two  longer  lines  state  the  theme,  four  short  lines  fol- 
low, with  a  long  line  in  conclusion.  The  strong  line  that 
closes  the  first  stanza  is  like  the  rock  upon  which  the  house 
rests;  the  last  line  of  the  second  stanza  is  like  the  solemn 
tolling  of  a  funeral  bell. 

"Every  one  therefore  that  heareth  these  words  of  mine,  and 
doeth  them. 
Shall  be  likened  unto  a  wise  man,  who  built  his  house  upon 
the  rock : 
And  the  rain  descended. 
And  the  floods  came. 
And  the  winds  blew. 
And  beat  upon  that  house ; 
And  it  fell  not :  for  it  was  founded  upon  the  rock. 

And  every  one  that  heareth  these  words  of  mine,  and  doeth 
them  not. 


JESUS'  METHOD  AS  TEACHEE  29 

Shall  be  likened  unto  a  foolish  man,  who  built  his  house 
upon  the  sand : 

And  the  rain  descended. 

And  the  floods  came. 

And  the  winds  blew. 

And  smote  upon  that  house ; 
And  it  fell :  and  great  was  the  fall  thereof/' 

The  Sermon  on  the  Mount  is  rich  in  such  passages.  Note 
especially  the  beatitudes,  and  the  whole  passage  about  the 
single  heart  and  the  single  trust  (Matthew  6.  19-34).  Here 
noble  thought  is  fitted  with  speech  as  beautiful  as  it  is 
simple,  while  over  all  is  the  atmosphere  of  Christ's  own 
peace.  The  first  half  of  Matthew  7  is  entirely  composed  of 
passages  cast  in  the  Hebrew  poetic  form.  In  none  of  this  is 
there  the  sign  of  labor.  It  is  merely  the  beauty  of  form 
instinctively  chosen  for  pure  and  noble  thought. 

The  Parables 

What  is  a  Parable? — Most  of  the  pictures  that  we  have 
spoken  of  so  far  are  simple  likenesses.  The  parable  is  an- 
other form  of  Jesus'  picture-teaching,  and  one  that  de- 
mands special  attention.  The  parable  is  an  invented  story, 
like  the  fable  or  the  allegory.  It  differs  from  the  fable  in 
being  a  story  that  might  naturally  happen.  The  parables 
have  no  talking  animals,  for  example,  like  the  fables  of 
-^sop.  Even  more  important  is  the  difference  from  the 
allegory.  A  parable,  like  an  allegory,  is  a  story  used  to 
prove  or  illustrate  some  spiritual  meaning.  In  an  allegory, 
however,  like  the  Pilgrim's  Progress,  each  figure  and  inci- 
dent has  its  special  meaning,  and  one  must  ask  continually, 
what  does  this  mean?  and  what  is  that?  The  parable,  on 
the  other  hand,  is  an  argument  intended  to  prove  one  cen- 
tral point.  Other  points  may  suggest  a  comparison,  but  the 
real  point  of  the  parable  is  one. 

Some  Difficult  Parables. — Many  of  the  difficulties  in  the 
parables  will  disappear  if  we  realize  this,  that  they  are 
arguments  meant  to  prove  one  point.  Here  is  the  unright- 
eous steward  (Luke  16. 1-12).    Jesus  does  not  commend  his 


30  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

sharp  practices.  The  parable  has  just  one  point:  let  the 
disciples  be  as  efficient  in  the  affairs  of  the  Kingdom  as  this 
man  was  in  his  own  selfish  interest.  There  is  just  one 
point  in  the  parable  of  the  eleventh-hour  laborers  (Matthew 
20.  1-16).  We  are  not  servants  in  a  market  place  waiting 
to  be  hired.  God  is  not  a  mere  master  dealing  with  his 
w^orkmen.  Nor  does  Jesus  teach  that  men  should  get  equal 
wages  whether  they  work  one  hour  or  twelve.  God  is  like 
the  Lord  of  the  vineyard  in  just  one  thing:  he  gives,  and 
does  not  simply  pay.  He  deals  with  men  not  after  their 
desert,  but  according  to  his  grace. 

The  Parable  of  the  Forgiving  Father. — None  of  the 
parables  of  Jesus  is  better  known  than  that  of  the  prodigal 
son.  Its  theme  is  that  eternal  one  of  a  boy^s  waywardness 
and  a  father^s  love.  It  should  be  called  the  parable  of  the 
forgiving  father.  Jesus  did  not  tell  it  in  order  to  picture 
human  sin  and  its  consequence,  though  it  does  that  wonder- 
fully. The  story  is  his  argument  in  answer  to  the  criticism 
of  his  foes  (Luke  15.  1,  2,  11-24).  They  had  criticized 
him  bitterly  for  associating  with  the  taxgatherers  and  other 
religious  outcasts,  or  "sinners^';  he  was  violating  the  law, 
overturning  all  order,  and  actually  encouraging  unright- 
eousness. So  Jesus  tells  them  the  story  of  this  father  and 
his  boy.  Just  where  his  story  was  leading  them  his  hearers 
probably  did  not  see.  But  even  the  Pharisees  must  have 
been  moved  as  they  saw  the  old  man,  worn  with  his  waiting, 
at  last  catch  sight  of  the  boy  far  down  the  road  and  run 
out  to  meet  him.  He  forgets  the  boy's  rags  and  filth  and 
even  his  sin,  nor  does  he  mind  what  the  neighbors  say.  He 
has  won  back  his  boy,  and  that  is  enough.  God  is  like 
that,  says  Jesus.  His  rule  is  mercy  and  his  joy  is  in  win- 
ning back  his  wayward  children. 

The  Examples 

Four  Examples. — Four  of  Jesus'  stories  usually  classed 
with  the  parables  may  better  be  called  examples.  They  are 
those  of  the  good  Samaritan,  the  Pharisee  and  publican  in 
the  temple,  the  foolish  rich  man,  and  Dives  and  Lazarus. 


JESUS'  METHOD  AS  TEACHER  31 

What  we  have  in  each  case  is  an  impressive  illustration  set- 
ting forth  a  great  spiritual  truth.  And  how  effective  these 
examples  are!  Men  who  cannot  understand  a  discussion 
of  justification  through  faith,  look  at  the  Pharisee  and  pub- 
lican, and  see  that  God's  one  concern  when  men  come  to 
him  is  the  penitent  and  humble  heart.  The  rich  farmer, 
standing  with  poor  and  naked  soul  before  God,  shows  us 
in  a  flash  the  folly  and  failure  of  what  men  call  wisdom  and 
success. 

The  Good  Samaritan. — It  was  the  question  of  a  quibbling 
lawyer  that  called  forth  the  story  of  the  good  Samaritan. 
In  answer  to  an  earlier  question,  Jesus  had  declared  that 
the  heart  of  all  religion  was  the  simple  law  of  love.  What 
God  wanted,  in  other  words,  was  just  being  a  neighbor. 
And  now  he  shows  us  in  a  picture  what  being  a  neighbor 
means.  A  poor  traveler  had  been  plundered  and  beaten  on 
that  robber-infested  road  between  Jerusalem  and  Jericho. 
Priest  and  Levite  passed  him  by,  religious  men  who  did  not 
know  what  real  religion  was.  The  Samaritan  may  have 
had  his  natural  prejudice  against  this  Jew,  but  what  he  saw 
now  was  not  a  Jew,  but  only  a  brother  in  need,  his  neigh- 
bor, no  matter  how  far  they  were  separated  in  home  and  in 
race.  To  have  a  heart  of  love  for  all  men  and  to  show  it  to 
the  man  in  need,  that  is  religion.  And  through  all  ages, 
as  men  think  of  this,  there  will  stand  before  them  this 
Samaritan. 

The  Misuse  of  Jesus'  Teaching 

Allegorizing. — Three  mistakes  are  often  made  in  connec- 
tion with  the  teaching  of  Jesus.  The  first  is  that  of  al- 
legorizing. Men  have  not  been  content  to  take  the  single 
simple  point  of  the  parables,  but  have  tried  to  find  some 
hidden  meaning  in  every  part.  So  in  the  parable  of  the 
prodigal  son  men  have  found  a  meaning  for  the  far  coun- 
try and  the  famine,  the  husks  and  the  swine,  the  robe  and 
the  ring,  the  shoes  and  the  calf,  and  many  other  matters. 
There  is,  of  course,  no  agreement  among  such  allegorizers, 
and  no  limit  except  the  imagination  of  the  individual,  who 
reads  into  it  his  own  particular  doctrine  or  system.    This 


32  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

system  flourishes  in  the  Eoman  Catholic  Church  and  in  cer- 
tain Protestant  circles. 

Literalism. — The  second  mistake  is  that  of  literalism. 
Jesus  used  vivid  phrases  to  startle  men  and  pictures  to  make 
them  see.  It  was  the  method  of  the  poet  and  prophet,  and 
men  have  too  often  lost  the  meaning  by  turning  it  into 
dull  prose.  They  declare  we  must  be  loyal  to  the  word  of 
Jesus  and  so  take  it  letter  by  letter.  But  where  is  the 
Christian  who  hates  his  father  and  mother  (Luke  14.  26), 
who  cuts  olf  his  right  hand,  or  plucks  out  his  right  eye? 
(Matthew  5.  29,  30.)  And  what  shall  we  do  when  he  tells 
us  at  one  time  to  let  our  light  shine  before  men,  and  a  little 
later  that  we  are  not  to  let  the  right  hand  know  what  the 
left  hand  does?  Or  again  when  he  says,  "Peace  I  leave 
with  you,"  and  then,  "I  came  not  to  send  peace,  but  a 
sword  ?'^  Jesus'  teaching  has  made  literalism  impossible 
for  those  who  will  really  study  it.  It  is  the  spirit  that  Jesus 
cares  for  in  our  life,  and  it  is  the  spirit  that  we  must  dis- 
cern in  his  teaching. 

Legalism. — The  final  mistake  is  that  of  legalism,  or  the 
effort  to  turn  Jesus'  teaching  into  a  new  system  of  laws. 
But  it  was  not  rules  that  Jesus  came  to  bring,  but  life. 
Jesus'  idea  of  religion  was  not  a  better  set  of  laws,  but  a 
new  spirit  in  the  hearts  of  men.  All  this  becomes  plain 
when  we  look  at  his  teachings.  There  is  no  effort  to  set 
forth  any  system  of  laws;  rather  he  is  like  the  wise 
physician,  prescribing  this  for  one  patient  and  that  for  an- 
other. To  the  rich  young  ruler  he  says,  "Sell  all  which  thou 
hast" ;  but  he  does  not  require  this  of  Zacchseus.  One  man 
he  tells  to  leave  all  and  follow ;  but  the  Gadarene  demoniac 
he  sends  back  to  his  people.  Systems  of  law  come  and  go, 
like  systems  of  theology;  they  must  be  suited  to  conditions 
and  times.  But  the  message  of  Jesus  is  eternal;  to  every 
age  he  says,  "The  words  that  I  have  spoken  unto  you  are 
spirit,  and  are  life." 

Directions  for  Study 

Scripture  references:  Luke  13.  1-5;  Matthew  13.  34;  5.  13- 
16;  Luke  10.  29-37;  15.  11-24. 


JESUS'  METHOD  AS  TEACHER  3^ 

This  lesson  is  mostly  concerned  with  Jesus'  picture-teachings 
Read  carefully  the  discussion.  It  is  most  important,  however, 
to  read  as  fully  as  possible  in  the  Gospels  themselves,  testing 
for  yourself  every  point  made  in  this  chapter. 

Write  out  from  memory  as  long  a  list  as  you  can  of  the 
objects  used  by  Jesus  for  illustration,  including  the  parables. 

Make  as  long  a  list  as  you  can  of  the  parables  from  memory. 

Select  two  of  these  parables  and  give  the  meaning. 

Recall  some  of  the  doctrines  in  regard  to  which  Christian 
people  have  disputed  and  Christian  churches  divided.  Are  any 
of  these  discussed  by  Jesus? 

What  do  you  consider  the  most  beautiful  of  the  parables  or 
other  messages  of  Jesus? 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  FATHER 

The  heart  of  a  man's  faith  is  what  he  thinks  about  God ; 
from  this  everything  else  follows.  That  is  true  of  Jesus; 
once  grasp  his  simple  but  wonderful  thought  of  God  and 
all  his  teachings  become  plain.  The  men  of  his  day  thought 
him  dangerous  because  he  put  aside  rule  and  ritual  and 
simply  bade  men  love;  but  that  was  because  he  believed 
in  such  a  God.  When  he  urged  men  to  pray  and  not  faint, 
when  he  bade  them  face  the  world  without  fear,  it  was  be- 
cause he  believed  in  a  God  who  cared  for  all  men  and  who 
ruled  all  the  world.  Only  one  chapter  is  given  here  to  the 
special  theme  of  Jesus'  teaching  about  God,  but  that  truth 
in  fact  will  underlie  the  whole  course.  Indeed,  we  have 
here  the  test  of  all  Christian  teaching:  Does  it  agree  with 
the  character  of  God  as  Jesus  revealed  him  in  his  life  and 
word? 

The  Idea  of  God  in  Israel 

In  Jesus'  Day. — The  highest  gift  that  life  can  bestow  on 
us  is  a  warm,  strong  faith  in  God.  That  was  the  need  of 
the  men  of  Jesus'  day.  There  was  a  great  deal  of  religion 
but  not  much  of  God,  and  so  there  was  not  much  love  or 
peace  or  strength.  Religion  was  a  round  of  hard  duties, 
a  task  rather  than  an  inspiration.  The  world  was  very  near 
and  very  real.  Men  loved  it  and  feared  it,  and  the  love  of 
the  world  and  the  fear  of  the  world  alike  kept  them  in 
bondage.  God  himself  seemed  far  away.  They  knew  that 
he  had  once  been  with  his  people,  that  he  had  led  them 
forth  from  Egypt  and  given  them  their  land.  Some  time 
in  the  future  they  expected  to  see  his  power  again.  Mean- 
while he  had  left  men  his  laws.  Religion  was  not  fellow- 
ship with  God,  but  the  study  and  keeping  of  these  laws. 

34 


THE  FATHER  35 

The  God  of  the  Prophets. — Far  richer  and  stronger  had 
been  the  faith  of  the  prophets.  "Hear,  0  Israel :  Jehovah 
our  God  is  one  Jehovah,"  so  the  creed  began.  These 
prophets  believed  in  one  God.  He  was  the  Creator ;  he  had 
"measured  the  waters  in  the  hollow  of  his  hand,  and  meted 
out  heaven  with  the  span."  He  was  the  God  of  history  as 
well  as  of  nature;  he  it  was  who  had  called  forth  a  Cyrus, 
"to  subdue  nations  before  him."  He  was  a  God  of  mercy 
toward  his  people,  "a  just  God  and  a  Saviour.^^  "In  all  their 
affliction  he  was  afflicted,  and  the  angel  of  his  presence  saved 
them :  in  his  love  and  in  his  pity  he  redeemed  them ;  and 
he  bare  them,  and  carried  them  all  the  days  of  old."  He 
was  a  God  of  righteousness,  this  God  of  the  prophets;  his 
concern  was  not  for  sacrifices  and  offerings,  but  that  ^^jus- 
tice  roll  down  as  waters,  and  righteousness  as  a  mighty 
stream." 

The  God  of  Jesus 

Jesus  and  the  Prophets. — All  this  living  faith  of  the 
prophets  we  find  again  in  the  message  of  Jesus.  God  was 
a  living  presence.  Jesus  saw  the  hard,  wicked  world  as 
clearly  as  anyone — more  clearly,  indeed,  than  others.  But 
it  was  a  different  world  for  him  because  in  all  and  above 
all  he  saw  God.  The  glowing  sky,  the  sudden  tempest,  the 
wayside  flower,  the  little  birds,  all  spoke  to  him  of  God.  It 
was  the  vision  of  God  that  had  made  the  prophets;  their 
work  began  when  they  "saw  the  Lord  sitting  upon  a  throne, 
high  and  lifted  up."  But  Jesus  saw  this  Lord  not  merely 
in  the  glory  of  the  temple,  but  in  all  the  world's  life.  He 
was  not  merely  the  God  before  whom  the  flaming  spirits 
cried,  "Holy,  holy,  holy,''  he  was  the  God  near  at  hand  to 
help  even  the  little  child,  and  without  whom  not  even  the 
sparrow  fell. 

The  King  Is  Father 

There  are  two  phrases  in  which  we  may  sum  up  Jesus' 
teaching  about  God,  and  the  first  is  this :  The  King  is 
Father.  With  that  thought  he  begins  the  prayer  that  he 
taught  his  disciples :  "Our  Father  who  art  in  heaven."  He 
who  is  in  heaven^  who  rules  over  all,  is  Father. 


36  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

Fatherhood  in  the  Old  Testament. — This  message  of 
God's  Fatherhood  is  Jesus'  first  great  advance  over  all  that 
went  before.  It  is  true  that  Jehovah  is  sometimes  called 
Father  in  the  Old  Testament,  but  we  see  the  difference 
when  we  look  more  closely.  In  the  Old  Testament  God  is 
first  of  all  a  King.  True,  this  King  is  fatherly  toward  his 
people;  he  pities  those  that  fear  him  as  a  father  pities  his 
children;  but  his  real  character  is  that  of  king.  The  real 
faith  of  a  people  comes  to  expression  in  its  hymns  and 
prayers.  Where  is  there  a  Christian  that  does  not  say 
"Father"  when  he  prays?  But  in  the  psalms,  the  Old 
Testament  prayer  book,  you  look  in  vain  for  a  single  pas- 
sage where  the  worshiper  calls  upon  Jehovah  as  Fatlier. 
(Psalm  103.  13;  68.  5;  89.  27,  28  are  only  apparent  excep- 
tions.) There  is  one  other  notable  fact:  with  perhaps  one 
exception,  when  Jehovah  is  spoken  of  as  Father  in  the  Old 
Testament,  it  is  in  relation  to  the  people  as  a  whole  or  to 
their  representative,  the  king.  The  common  man  did  not 
think  of  God  as  his  own  Father. 

The  God  of  Mercy. — What  does  this  Fatherhood  mean? 
First  of  all  it  means  undeserved  mercy.  The  religion  of 
the  law  is  the  religion  that  earns :  men  get  just  what  they 
deserve.  So  Judaism  thought;  God  was  a  lawgiver  and  an 
even-handed  judge.  There  was  a  double  danger  under  such 
teaching:  that  the  "sinner"  should  give  up  everything  in 
despair,  and  that  the  "saint"  should  become  proud  and 
self-righteous.  For  all  this  there  is  no  room  with  Jesus. 
God  is  not  a  taskmaster  paying  wages :  he  is  the  Father 
whose  mercy  goes  out  to  all  his  children.  It  is  what  God 
is  that  determines  his  gifts  to  men,  not  what  men  are. 
And  not  all  the  evil  of  men  can  change  God's  love.  That 
is  the  message  of  Matthew  5.  43-18.  Jesus  had  noted  the 
hard  ways  of  men,  which  they  called  justice.  That  is  not 
God's  way,  he  said.  Look  out  upon  this  world.  His  sun 
shines  upon  the  evil  and  the  good;  his  gracious  rain  falls 
upon  the  just  and  the  unjust. 

But  it  is  the  parable  of  the  eleventh-hour  laborers  that 
gives  the  death-blow  to  this  Jewish  idea  of  a  bargain  reli- 
gion and  a  God  who  is  merely  a  paymaster  (Matthew  20. 


THE  FATHER  37 

1-16).  A  certain  landowner  sends  his  steward  into  the 
market  place  of  the  village  to  hire  laborers,  and  the  agree- 
ment is  that  each  shall  receive  a  denarius,  or  about  seven- 
teen cents.  During  the  day  he  hires  still  other  men,  some, 
indeed,  only  an  hour  before  the  day's  close.  The  master 
himself  pays  off  the  men.  He  begins  with  those  last  hired, 
who,  to  their  surprise,  receive  their  denarius,  though  they 
have  worked  but  an  hour.  But  when  the  master  comes  to 
those  who  have  worked  all  day,  he  gives  them  the  same. 
To  their  protest  he  answers :  "Cannot  I  do  what  I  will  with 
my  own  ?  Are  you  to  be  angry  because  I  am  good,  because 
I  choose  to  give  to  these  men  more  than  they  have  earned  ?'' 

This  parable  is  an  argument,  and  it  seeks  to  prove  one 
point:  God  deals  with  men  on  the  principle  of  mercy,  not 
of  hard  justice.  With  this  parable  Jesus  swept  away  the 
whole  religion  of  law  and  labor,  of  earning  and  getting. 
God  is  not  that  kind  of  a  God.  With  this  word  Jesus  gave 
a  new  hope  to  the  hopeless,  and  drew  sinners  and  outcasts 
to  himself.  The  old  theologians  used  to  say  that  God  must 
always  be  just,  that  he  might  when  he  would  be  merciful; 
but  they  were  not  true  in  this  to  the  teaching  of  Jesus. 
God  is  Father,  and  mercy  is  the  law  of  fatherhood.  God 
will  always  be  merciful,  as  he  will  ever  be  just. 

An  Individual  Love. — This  is  one  side  of  Fatherhood, 
an  unbounded  and  undeserved  love  for  all  men.  The  other 
side  is  this :  God  loves  men  individually.  His  Fatherhood 
is  not  a  general  good  will.  It  is  not  his  love  for  mankind 
as  a  whole,  or  for  some  race,  or  for  his  church.  He  cares 
for  each  single  man,  as  the  shepherd  does  for  the  single 
sheep  that  may  be  astray.  The  humblest  child  is  precious 
in  his  sight;  woe  to  him  who  makes  one  such  child  to 
stumble  !  God  has  his  loving  purpose  for  every  human  life. 
There  is  not  one  thing  that  concerns  a  man  that  God  is 
not  interested  in;  the  hairs  of  vour  head  are  numbered 
(Matthew  10.  29-31).  But  if  God  be  such  a  God,  loving 
each  man,  then  religion  is  man  answering  that  love  with 
like  love.  It  is  man  entering  into  fellowship  with  the 
Father  as  a  true  son,  loving  him,  talking  with  him,  making 
God's  will  the  great  concern  of  his  life.    And  so  religion 


38  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

becomes  a  personal  relation.    "This  is  life  eternal,  that  they 
should  know  thee  the  only  true  God/^ 

Three  Great  Truths. — Here,  then,  are  three  great  truths 
that  flow  from  Jesus'  teaching  about  the  Father.  (1) 
Individualism:  God  knows  the  single  man,  and  cares  for 
him.  (2)  Universalism :  if  God  cares  for  each  man,  then 
he  cares  for  all  men.  He  is  not  limited  to  one  nation, 
whether  Jew  or  Anglo-Saxon,  nor  to  certain  elect.  (3) 
Eeligion  becomes  a  personal  relation:  the  rule  of  God  is 
to  be  carried  out  in  family  and  industry  and  state,  but  the 
heart  of  it  all  is  man's  fellowship  with  God.  Confessing 
the  creed,  performing  the  rite,  belonging  to  the  nation  or 
the  church,  none  of  these  can  take  the  place  of  this  per- 
sonal relation  of  the  child  with  the  Father. 

The  Fathee  Is  King 

love  Upon  the  Throne. — The  Father  is  King ;  that  is  the 
second  phrase  in  which  to  sum  up  Jesus'  teaching  about 
God.  It  is  not  enough  for  men  to  believe  in  the  love  of 
God.  Does  this  love  sit  upon  the  world's  throne,  or  is  there 
another  power  that  men  must  fear?  That  was  the  weak- 
ness in  men's  faith  in  Jesus'  day,  as  it  is  in  ours;  men 
feared  and  loved  other  things  besides  God.  Back  of  Jesus' 
joyous  message  about  the  Father  was  the  abiding  assurance 
of  his  Father's  power.  It  is  easy  to  say,  as  we  do  each 
Sunday,  "I  believe  in  God  the  Father  Almighty;"  but  do 
we  really  believe  that  the  Power  Almighty  is  a  Father,  and 
that  our  Father  is  Almighty  Power?  So  Jesus  believed. 
There  was  evil  in  the  world,  but  God  would  surely  carry 
out  his  purpose  for  each  individual  and  for  his  world.  So 
Jesus  rejoiced  not  merely  in  God's  love  but  in  his  power. 
He  says:  "I  thank  thee,  0  Father,  Lord  of  heaven  and 
earth." 

The  Fear  of  God. — If  the  Father  is  really  King,  then  we 
must  fear  him.  In  his  own  strong  word  Jesus  puts  the 
truth :  "I  say  unto  you  my  friends.  Be  not  afraid  of  them 
that  kill  the  body.  .  .  .  But  I  will  warn  you  whom  ye 
shall  fear :  Fear  him,  who  after  he  hath  killed  hath  power 


THE  FATHEE  39 

to  cast  into  hell"  (Luke  12.  4,  5;  compare  Matthew  10. 
28).  This  is  not,  of  course,  fear  in  the  ordinary  human 
sense.  It  has,  rather,  the  meaning  of  reverence  and  awe. 
It  belongs  not  simply  to  the  sinner,  but  to  the  saint  who 
utterly  trusts  and  loves.  It  was  in  Jesus'  own  soul.  It 
is  awakened  as  much  by  the  thought  of  God's  infinite  and 
holy  love  as  by  the  thought  of  his  power.  To  such  rever- 
ence and  awe  Jesus  summoned  men.  They  were  to  pray, 
"Hallowed  be  thy  name.''  They  were  not  to  swear  at  all. 
The  trifling  Sadducees  with  their  frivolous  question  he 
rebukes  with  the  word:  "Ye  know  not  .  .  .  the  power 
of  God." 

The  Source  of  Strength  and  Peace. — Such  reverential 
fear  is  the  foundation  of  strong  character.  The  reason 
is  plain.  (1)  The  fear  of  God  and  obedience  to  his  will 
give  men  purpose  in  life  and  power.  Life  gains  unity. 
Lesser  aims  and  petty  interests  lose  their  influence.  Man 
is  strong  because  he  has  a  great  and  commanding  end.  (2) 
The  fear  of  God  delivers  a  man  from  all  other  fears.  Fear 
and  trust  belong  together,  as  Jesus  showed.  He  begins 
by  saying,  "Fear  him";  he  ends  with  the  words,  "Fear 
not"  (Matthew  10.  28,  31).  It  is  the  fear  of  God  that 
delivers  us  from  all  other  fears.  The  great  reason  why 
men  are  so  anxious  and  worried  is  because  they  have  not 
had  the  real  vision  of  God's  power. 

Superstition  and  Worry. — Worry  was  not  simply  a  fail- 
ing in  the  eyes  of  Jesus ;  it  was  a  sin.  The  heart  of  worry 
is  an  unwillingness  to  trust  God  or  to  leave  our  lives  to 
his  will.  The  root  of  worry  is  paganism,  an  unbelief  in 
God,  perhaps  more  often  a  belief  that  God  rules  but  part 
of  the  world,  while  the  rest  belongs  to  chance  or  powers  of 
evil.  Closely  allied  to  this  are  the  lingering  superstitions 
that  may  be  found  even  in  our  day.  What  is  the  meaning 
of  the  little  superstitions  about  lucky  pennies,  the  number 
thirteen,  knocking  on  wood,  and  picking  up  pins  for  good 
luck  ?  Is  it  not  the  feeling  that  at  least  a  part  of  this  world 
is  not  under  the  rule  of  God  and  his  ordered  action,  but 
of  some  "chance"  or  power  of  evil  ?  How  widespread  this 
is,  even  among  educated  people,  was  shown  some  years  ago 


40  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

by  a  writer  who  declared  that  in  response  to  personal 
queries  nearly  three  fourths  of  the  teaching  force  of  Har- 
vard University  confessed  that  ''they  had  little  habits  and 
customs  indicating  that,  whether  consciously  or  subcon- 
sciously, they  were  under  superstition's  influence/'  Of 
nearly  nine  hundred  students  examined  in  the  University 
•of  California,  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight  believed  wholly 
or  partly  in  the  Friday  superstition,  and  one  hundred  and 
thirty  in  the  idea  of  misfortune  associated  with  the  number 
thirteen.  A  simple  thoroughgoing  faith  in  a  power  that  is 
good  and  that  rules  absolutely  all  life  is  the  highest  gift 
that  can  come  to  a  man,  a  gift  that  brings  quiet  of  mind 
and  strength  and  joy. 

The  Holiness  of  God 

Holiness  in  Jesus'  Day. — We  have  spoken  of  the  love  of 
God  and  the  power  of  God,  but  thus  far  have  not  considered 
the  holiness  of  God.  It  is  significant  that  there  is  only  one 
passage  in  which  Jesus  is  reported  as  using  the  adjective 
"holy"  with  God  (John  17.  11).  Now,  Jesus  believed  as 
strongly  in  the  holiness  of  God  as  did  those  about  him; 
but  the  reason  that  he  and  the  early  church  used  it  so  little 
seems  to  be  that  the  word  had  acquired  a  meaning  which 
they  did  not  accept.  It  had  come  to  mean  something 
formal  and  ritual  both  for  men  and  God.  Holiness  meant 
separation  from  defilement.  In  men  it  meant  mainly  a 
scrupulous  observance  of  the  many  rules  of  ceremonial 
cleanness.  One  of  the  great  requirements  was  to  keep 
away  from  all  "sinners/'  the  contact  with  whom  would 
defile.  In  a  similar  way,  the  holiness  of  God  meant  his 
separation  from  sinful  men. 

Love — Jesus'  Ideal  of  Holiness. — It  was  a  new  and 
greater  ideal  of  holiness  that  Jesus  brought.  It  was  the 
holiness  of  love,  so  wonderful,  so  pure,  so  boundless,  as  to 
transcend  all  that  men  had  ever  conceived.  He  himself 
exhibited  that  holiness  in  his  life.  It  was  not  a  holiness 
that  separated  from  men,  but  one  that  drew  near.  Jesus 
prefers  to  use  the  name  "love"  for  this  rather  than  "holi- 


THE  FATHER  41 

ness";  it  is,  however,  none  the  less  holiness  with  which  we 
are  dealing  when  we  speak  of  God's  love.  It  is  only  neces- 
sary to  see  clearly  what  kind  of  love  this  Father  love  is 
which  Jesns  proclaimed. 

Not  all  love  is  holy  love.  Sometimes  love  is  unholy 
because  it  is  impure,  sometimes  because  it  is  foolish  or 
weak.  Such  mistaken  sentiment  is  often  shown  by  parents 
and  friends,  and  makes  for  moral  harm  and  so  for  unright- 
eousness. The  love  of  the  Father,  infinite  and  gracious 
and  undeserved,  is  not  the  weak  love  of  sentiment  that 
men  have  sometimes  thought  it.  It  is  a  love  that  touches 
men  to  save  men.  Its  least  gifts  go  to  all,  the  gifts  of  sun 
and  rain.  Its  great  gift,  the  gift  of  life,  goes  only  to  those 
who  surrender  themselves  to  it  and  enter  the  fellowship  of 
God.  But  that  fellowship  is  a  moral  fellowship.  It  de- 
mands obedience,  it  lifts  a  man  from  sin.  It  is  God's  way 
of  overcoming  evil.  The  greatest  power  for  righteous- 
ness in  this  world  is  not  the  threat  of  the  law;  it  is  this 
mercy  of  God  as  the  power  to  destroy  sin.  God's  love  is 
pure  holiness. 

The  Idea  of  Love  and  the  Sense  of  Sin. — One  question 
more  needs  to  be  answered.  With  this  place  given  to  mercy 
as  supreme  in  God,  are  we  not  sacrificing  the  sense  of  sin 
and  the  fact  of  judgment?  To  this  we  must  answer  em- 
phatically. No!  First  of  all,  this  teacher  of  love,  this 
Christ  of  mercy,  has  done  more  to  deepen  the  sense  of  sin 
than  all  proclaimers  of  law  and  punishment.  Not  till  we 
have  studied  Jesus  do  we  see  what  sin  really  is.  It  is  not 
the  breaking  of  some  little  rule.  It  is  not  the  failure  of 
some  sacrifice.  It  is  man  standing  out  against  the  love  of 
such  a  God.  He  may  do  that  in  various  ways,  as  we  see 
from  the  Gospels.  He  may  refuse  to  receive  that  love. 
"How  often  would  I  have  gathered  you  together,"  says 
Jesus,  "and  ye  would  not."  He  may  show  the  hard,  un- 
loving, selfish  spirit  in  his  own  life,  as  did  those  who 
criticized  Jesus  for  receiving  sinners ;  these  Jesus  portrayed 
in  the  little  parable  of  the  elder  brother  (Luke  15.  25-32). 
Or  else  there  may  be  definite  refusal  of  God's  loving  pur- 
pose, and  a  life  of  opposition,  such  as  was  seen  in  the 


42  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

enmity  to  Jesus  that  culminated  in  the  cross.  In  every 
case  it  is  in  the  white  light  of  God's  love  that  we  see  the 
real  blackness  of  sin. 

Love  and  Judgment. — And  there  is  place  for  judgment 
in  this  message  of  love.  That  follows  from  the  very  nature 
of  the  case.  Such  judgment  is  not  torment  which  God 
inflicts  upon  the  sinner;  it  is  the  sinner's  own  deed  in 
shutting  himself  out  from  the  love  of  God.  If  God's  love 
meant  merely  the  gift  of  health  or  other  earthly  good,  it 
might  be  different;  but  it  means  a  personal  fellowship 
which  God  offers  to  man.  From  that  personal  fellowship 
man  may  shut  himself  out  by  selfishness  and  disobedience. 
And,  though  the  love  of  God  will  follow  him,  we  can  see  no 
reason  why  man  may  not  shut  himself  out  finally.  If  it 
be  life  eternal  to  know  God,  then  such  disobedience  is 
death.  Jesus  himself  does  not  discuss  the  doctrine  of  pun- 
ishment and  the  future  life,  but  he  makes  clear  the  princi- 
ple of  judgment.  Sin  has  its  consequences  as  well  as  right- 
eousness. "These  shall  go  away  into  eternal  punishment: 
but  the  righteous  into  eternal  life." 

Directions  foe  Study 

Scripture  references:  Matthew  5.  43-48;  6.  9;  20.  1-16;  10. 
28-31. 

Read  carefully  the  first  three  Scripture  references  and  the 
whole  discussion  of  "The  King  is  Father."  Recall  other  say- 
ings or  parables  in  which  Jesus  brings  out  this  doctrine.  Go- 
ing back  to  his  life,  recall  how  he  illustrated  it  there. 

Read  the  discussion  of  "The  Father  is  King,"  and  the  last 
reference.  Again  refer  to  Jesus'  life.  Note  his  spirit  of 
obedience,  his  reverence  in  prayer  (Matthew  4.  4,  7,  10;  11. 
25;  26.  39). 

Study  the  unity  of  holiness  and  love.  Here  again  it  is  the 
life  and  spirit  of  Jesus  that  will  best  show  us,  if  we  are  per- 
plexed, alike  the  unity  of  these  two  and  the  full  meaning  of 
each. 

Discuss  the  following  practical  questions:  The  meaning  of 
God's  fatherhood  for  a  man's  faith  and  life;  the  meaning  of 
God's  holiness;  how  the  idea  of  God's  holiness  suffers  when 
we  leave  out  his  love;  how  the  idea  of  love  suffers  when  holi- 
ness is  omitted. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  HIGHEE  RIGHTEOUSNESS 

All  the  teaching  of  Jesus  moves  about  two  great  words : 
Father  and  sons.  And  these  two  words  suggest  the  double 
task  of  his  life :  to  show  to  men  the  Father,  to  lead  men 
into  the  life  of  sons.  Along  these  simple  lines  our  study 
of  the  teaching  of  Jesus  will  move.  We  are  to  consider 
what  sonship  is,  how  men  are  to  live  as  sons  in  relation  to 
the  Father,  to  their  brothers,  and  to  the  world.  Then  we 
take  up  some  questions  about  the  Father^s  rule  (the  king- 
dom of  God) ;  and  in  our  closing  lessons  consider  the  Son, 
in  his  character  as  showing  us  true  sonship,  and  in  his 
teaching  concerning  himself.  In  this  lesson  we  study  the 
higher  righteousness  which  must  characterize  the  sons  of 
the  Kingdom. 

Righteousness  with  the  Jews 

The  idea  of  righteousness  belongs  to  all  higher  religions. 
It  is  the  life  that  is  demanded  of  men.  The  righteousness 
of  man  is  his  accordance  with  the  standard  set  by  God. 
That  was  what  lifted  IsraePs  religion  above  that  of  the 
nations  about  her ;  her  God  demanded  more  than  sacrifices, 
he  asked  for  righteousness  of  life.  And  never  in  all  the 
history  of  Israel  was  there  such  a  determined  and  sys- 
tematic effort  to  fulfill  this  righteousness  as  in  Jesus'  day. 
There  was  a  group  of  experts,  the  scribes,  who  gave  their 
whole  life  to  the  study  and  teaching  of  just  what  was  de- 
manded by  way  of  righteousness.  Their  word  was  law  to 
the  people.  And  they  were  backed  by  a  party  which  in- 
cluded the  influential  leaders  of  the  people,  the  Pharisees, 
who  stood  for  the  strictest  obedience  to  the  law. 

The  Criticism  of  Jesus. — Jesus  came  with  a  new  demand. 

43 


44  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

All  this  is  not  enough,  he  says.  "Except  your  righteous- 
ness shall  exceed  the  righteousness  of  the  scribes  and 
Pharisees,  ye  shall  in  no  wise  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.'^  The  reason  for  the  criticism  is  not  far  to  seek. 
First  of  all,  these  leaders  had  passed  by  the  prophets,  who 
gave  the  highest  message  of  righteousness  to  be  found  in 
the  Old  Testament  and  upon  whom  Jesus  constantly  built. 
Second,  when  they  took  the  law,  they  did  not  try  to  get  at 
its  inner  spirit,  but  simply  added  more  rules  to  the  rules 
which  they  found,  until  all  religion  was  simply  a  keeping 
of  these  rules. 

The  Failure  of  Legalism. — Such  a  religion  could  not  but 
fail.  The  young  man  was  probably  quite  sincere  who  said 
to  Jesus,  "All  these  things  have  I  observed  from  my  youth." 
He  had  lived  up  to  his  ideal,  but  his  ideal  was  too  low. 
On  the  other  hand  the  keeping  of  rules  cannot  give  life. 
Just  as  soon  as  some  earnest  Jew  like  Saul  of  Tarsus  looked 
beyond  the  letter  he  found  that  he  had,  indeed,  a  com- 
mandment over  him,  but  no  power  of  life  within.  Instead, 
he  found  the  war  in  his  members,  and  could  only  cry, 
"Who  shall  deliver  me  out  of  the  body  of  this  death?" 
(Read  Romans  7.) 

An  Inner  Righteousness 

Jesus'  Demand  for  Higher  Righteousness. — The  theme 
of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  is  the  higher  righteousness 
of  the  Kingdom  as  contrasted  with  the  righteousness  of 
the  scribes.  Men  sometimes  think  of  Jesus  as  offering 
the  easier  way.  We  realize  that  his  gospel  brings  relief 
from  burdens  too  heavy  to  be  borne,  like  those  of  the  Jewish 
law.  We  recall  Jesus'  own  words  when  he  says  that  his 
yoke  is  easy  and  his  burden  is  light.  But  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount  brings  us  face  to  face  with  the  fact  that  Jesus 
demands  not  less  than  others,  but  far  more.  First  of  all 
Jesus  declares  that  the  righteousness  of  the  Kingdom  is 
an  inner  righteousness.  With  a  sure  hand  he  uncovers  the 
faults  of  a  mere  righteousness  of  rules.  Rules  can  control 
a  man  outwardly,  but  they  may  leave  wholly  untouched  the 


THE  HIGHER  EIGHTEOUSNESS  45 

real  life  of  the  man  which  is  within.    To  show  this  Jesus 
takes  np  certain  commandments  by  way  of  illustration. 

The  Spirit  of  Murder. — Here  is  murder.  The  law  says, 
"Thou  shalt  not  kill."  But  that  law  does  not  touch  the 
real  sin,  the  spirit  that  lies  back  of  murder  and  out  of 
which  murder  proceeds,  the  spirit  of  contempt  and  anger. 
Murder  was  a  little-known  crime  among  his  hearers.  But 
he  knew  only  too  well  the  bitterness  and  hatred  that  were 
among  them.  He  knew  that  those  models  of  strict  law 
observance,  the  Pharisees,  were  full  of  scorn  for  the  com- 
mon people.  Jesus  had  been  criticized  for  being  so  lax; 
now  he  shows  how  much  more  searching  his  demand  is  than 
that  of  the  strictest  scribe. 

The  Spirit  of  Impurity. — From  the  sixth  commandment 
Jesus  turns  to  the  seventh:  "Thou  shalt  not  commit  adul- 
tery." Here  again  he  makes  the  contrast  between  the  inner 
spirit  and  the  outer  act.  There  in  the  impure  heart  is  the 
source  of  the  sin;  there,  indeed,  is  the  sin  itself.  Many 
a  man  is  kept  from  murder  or  adultery  or  theft  by  the 
mere  fear  of  consequence.  The  lustful  glance,  the  impure 
desire — these  are  the  sin  against  woman  and  self  and  God. 
The  terrible  evil  of  commercial  prostitution  is  being 
curbed;  but  the  great  problem  of  the  social  evil  is  in  the 
hearts  of  men,  and  the  great  challenge  is  to  religion,  not 
to  the  state.  We  must  build  up  an  inner  righteousness, 
strong  and  pure,  that  shall  show  toward  every  woman  the 
chivalry  of  Jesus. 

The  Spirit  of  Dishonest  Speech. — The  sin  which  Jesus 
condemns  in  Matthew  5.  33-37  is  not  ordinary  profanity. 
The  law  made  provision  for  the  taking  of  oaths,  simply 
insisting  that  an  oath  taken  in  the  name  of  Jehovah  must 
be  kept  (Leviticus  19.  12;  Numbers  30.  2;  Deuteronomy 
23.  21).  Many  scholars  hold  that  this  is  the  meaning  of 
the  third  commandment  also,  and  that  it  should  be  trans- 
lated: "Thou  shalt  not  take  the  name  of  Jehovah  thy  God 
for  falsehood"  (Exodus  20.  7,  margin).  Jesus'  meaning, 
at  least,  is  clear.  It  is  the  same  protest  against  an  outer 
life  that  does  not  correspond  with  the  inner,  the  same  in- 
sistence that  only  the  inner  spirit  counts.    The  Jews  used 


46  THE  TEACHINOS  OF  JESUS 

many  forms  of  oath  in  Jesus'  day.  Some  were  held  to  be 
binding,  some  were  not.  Instead  of  making  speech  more 
sacred  or  men  more  true,  these  oaths  worked  the  other  way. 
The  virtue  of  simple  true-speaking  was  lost.  When  men 
try  to  make  one  kind  of  statement  more  sacred  and  bind- 
ing than  another  they  imply  that  a  man  need  not  be  so 
careful  to  be  honest  in  ordinary  speech.  Against  all  this 
Jesus  protests.  Let  your  speech  be  simply  yes  and  no,  says 
Jesus.  What  Jesus  wants  he  makes  clear  in  another  pas- 
sage of  this  same  sermon,  6.  22,  23 :  a  single  life  absolutely 
given  to  God.  In  such  a  life  there  is  only  one  purpose,  to 
let  God  rule  not  simply  in  some  words  but  in  every  word, 
and  in  the  inner  thought  as  well.  This  one  perfect  loyalty 
is  the  single  eye,  and  that  means  a  whole  life  that  is  light. 
A  life  that  is  all  of  one  piece,  true  within  and  without,  is 
what  Jesus  wants. 

The  Religion  of  the  Spirit  Foretold. — Men  had  seen  the 
need  of  a  religion  of  the  spirit  before  Jesus'  day.  It  ap- 
pears in  such  noble  passages  as  Psalm  51.  10  and  Jeremiah 
31.  31-33.  But  Jesus  was  the  first  to  set  forth  that  religion 
in  its  purity,  to  live  it  himself  before  men,  and  to  give 
others  power  to  live  it  after  him.  The  Christian  Church 
has  not  always  maintained  the  high  plane  of  its  Master. 
Often  men  have  sought  to  revive  some  letter  of  Old  Testa- 
ment law,  like  the  Jewish  Sabbath.  At  other  times  men 
have  sought  to  make  a  law  for  men's  faith  and  conscience 
out  of  some  set  of  doctrines  or  rules  or  ordinances.  Eules 
and  forms  and  creeds  have  their  place  in  the  Christian 
Church,  but  they  are  not  laws  to  be  enforced  nor  are  they 
ends  in  themselves.  And  we  have  no  right  to  set  them 
up  between  a  man  and  God.  So  far  as  they  help  the  Chris- 
tain  life  and  express  the  spirit  of  Christ,  they  may  be 
retained  as  means.  But  the  one  and  only  essential  is  an 
inner  spirit,  the  spirit  of  Christ.  He  who  has  this  is  a 
Christian. 

Righteousness  as  Bkotheehood  and  Sonship 
Righteousness  as  a  Life  With  Men. — The  higher  right- 


THE  HIGHER  RIGHTEOUSNESS  47 

eousness  is  social.  With  the  Jews  righteousness  meant 
something  to  be  done  for  God,  so  many  rules  to  be  kept 
because  God  had  commanded  them.  With  Jesus  righteous- 
ness is  a  life  to  be  lived  with  men.  The  rule  of  this  life  is 
good  will.  What  good  will  means  he  makes  plain  by  con- 
trast. The  primitive  law  among  men  everywhere  has  ap- 
parently been  that  of  retaliation,  and  the  Jewish  law  was 
not  an  exception.  "Thine  eyes  shall  not  pity,"  it  said ;  "life 
shall  go  for  life,  eye  for  eye,  tooth  for  tooth,  hand  for 
hand,  foot  for  foot"  (Deuteronomy  19.  21;  Exodus  21.  24; 
Leviticus  24.  20).  Over  against  that  Jesus  sets  up  the 
principle  of  good  will.  Not  love  for  love,  and  hate  for 
hate ;  but  love  for  all  men  no  matter  what  they  do.  Noth- 
ing is  to  overcome  this  inner  spirit  wliich  wishes  only  the 
good  of  others.  They  may  beat  you,  or  cheat  you  at  the 
law,  or  oppress  you  by  force;  there  is  only  one  thing  for 
the  son  of  the  Kingdom  to  do — to  keep  on  showing  them 
the  same  good  will  as  did  Jesus  himself  (Matthew  5.  38- 
42). 

Sons  of  Your  Father. — And  so  Jesus  comes  at  last  to 
the  heart  of  his  message.  It  can  all  be  put  into  one  word : 
men  are  to  be  sons  of  their  Father  (Matthew  5.  45).  We 
have  seen  how  Jesus  took  the  name  of  Father  and  gave  it 
a  richer,  larger  meaning.  He  did  the  same  with  the  name 
of  son.  The  Jews  too  thought  of  themselves  as  children 
of  Jehovah;  but  they  had  in  mind  only  their  privileges. 
When  Jesus  spoke  of  sonship  he  meant  obligation,  not 
privilege;  an  inward  spirit,  not  an  outward  favor.  To  be 
a  son  of  God  is  to  be  like  God.  And  so  we  have  the  one 
and  final  standard  for  men;  not  any  set  of  rules,  not  even 
those  of  the  Old  Testament,  but  the  heart  of  God  himself. 
To  the  men  of  his  day,  narrow,  selfish,  exacting  their 
rights,  he  said:  Love  all  men,  enemy  as  well  as  neighbor. 
Pray  for  all  men,  persecutor  as  well  as  friend.  Look  up 
and  see  what  God  does ;  his  sun  shines  upon  good  and  evil, 
he  sends  his  rain  upon  the  unjust  as  well  as  the  just.  And 
you  are  to  be  like  that;  you  are  to  aim  at  nothing  less. 
"Ye  therefore  shall  be  perfect  as  your  heavenly  Father  is 
perfect." 


48  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

Not  Letter  noe  Law,  but  the  Spirit 

Literal  Observance. — And  now  we  must  turn  again  to 
some  of  the  precepts  in  this  chapter  over  whose  meaning 
and  use  men  have  differed  so  widely.  Are  we  to  take 
these  all  literally  and  absolutely?  Are  the  Friends  right 
in  refusing  to  take  an  oath  even  in  courts  of  justice?  Is 
Tolstoy  right  in  declaring  that  there  should  never  be  any 
resistance  to  violence,  nor  any  refusal  to  another^s  request 
for  goods  or  money?  The  writer  heard  one  minister  of 
the  gospel  declare  that  if  a  man  came  to  his  door  and 
asked  him  for  a  quarter,  it  was  his  duty  to  give,  even  though 
he  knew  it  would  land  in  the  saloon  keeper's  till  in  the  next 
few  minutes. 

The  smaller  sects  and  religious  movements  have  often 
illustrated  the  error  of  literalizing  the  words  of  Jesus. 
There  is  a  Eussian  sect  whose  members  bawl  from  the 
housetops  whatever  message  they  have  to  give,  because 
Jesus  told  his  disciples  to  proclaim  from  the  housetops 
what  he  spoke  in  their  ears.  The  same  men  hold  smoking 
to  be  the  sin  of  sins,  because  Jesus  declared  that  it  was 
that  which  came  out  of  a  man  that  defiled  him.  There  is 
a  certain  humor  in  Jesus'  word  to  Peter,  when  he  declares 
that  the  disciples  are  to  receive  in  this  life  a  hundred 
houses  for  each  that  they  had  left,  and  so  also  mothers 
and  brothers  and  sisters  a  hundredfold  (Mark  10.  30). 
Because  Luke  in  his  report  of  this  mentions  wife  also 
(Luke  18.  29),  the  Mormons  claim  that  Jesus  supported 
polygamy;  for  did  he  not  promise  the  disciples  each  a 
hundred  wives  ? 

Jesus'  Principle  and  Method. — It  must  be  answered  that 
in  all  these  positions  there  is  a  fundamental  misunder- 
standing of  Jesus'  principle  and  method.  Jesus  is  not 
giving  a  new  set  of  rules  to  take  the  place  of  the  old.  It 
is  not  rules  at  all  that  he  is  giving.  He  is  replacing  a 
religion  of  rules  with  a  religion  of  the  spirit.  His  method 
in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  is  very  simple.  In  each  case 
he  points  out  how  inadequate  the  old  rule  is,  showing  that 
it  is  the  inner  spirit  that  counts.     Then  he  makes  this 


THE  HIGHER  RIGHTEOUSNESS  49 

plain  by  means  of  concrete  illustrations.  These  suggestions 
of  his,  however,  are  not  rules,  but  illustrations,  and  it  is 
quite  in  his  manner  to  give  these  in  striking  and  even 
extreme  form.  Take  Matthew  5.  38-42.  Jesus  opposes  two 
principles  to  each  other.  One  is  that  of  give  and  take, 
it  is  the  world's  way  to-day;  the  other  is  that  of  love,  un- 
grudging, unmeasured,  invincible,  the  kind  of  love  that 
Paul  sings  later  on.  You  may  fight  evil  with  evil,  or  you 
may  show  your  unchanged  good  will  by  the  turned  cheek. 
You  may  meet  injustice  with  retaliation,  or  you  may  an- 
swer the  oppression  by  a  deed  of  love;  that  is  giving  the 
cloak  to  him  who  has  taken  the  coat.  It  is  the  spirit  of 
love  that  Jesus  is  after.  But  it  is  not  love  to  give  a  quar- 
ter to  the  man  whose  whisky-laden  breath  betrays  liis 
weakness ;  that  is  to  sin  against  love.  If  we  follow  the  law 
of  love,  we  shall  refuse  the  quarter.  Those  who  turn  these 
words  of  Jesus  into  a  new  set  of  rules  are  missing  the 
Master's  whole  lesson,  and  unwittingly  are  becoming  the 
scribes  of  a  new  legalism.  The  great  demand  of  Jesus 
is  for  this  spirit  of  love  that  is  like  the  Father's,  undeserved 
and  invincible.  The  illustrations  make  plain  the  de- 
mand. But  how  that  love  shall  show  itself  in  the  in- 
dividual case  will  depend  upon  the  circumstances.  One 
way  to  show  your  good  will  for  the  drunkard  at  the  door 
is  to  join  the  fight  that  will  destroy  the  saloon;  but  that 
will  cost  you  more  than  five  minutes  time  or  twenty-five 
cents  of  money. 

What,  Then",  Is  Goodness  ? 

The  Heart  of  Righteousness. — It  is  perhaps  possible  to 
put  Jesus'  ideal  of  goodness,  or  righteousness,  in  two  words, 
though  these  words  must  be  far  larger  and  richer  than  in 
our  common  use.  (1)  Obedience  (Matthew  6.  33;  7.  21; 
Mark  3.  35).  This  does  not  mean  blind  submission  to 
some  authority,  nor  the  matter  of  habit  or  rule.  It  may 
be  present  in  men  who  know  but  little  of  God  and  truth. 
The  test  is  this :  Does  this  man  say  "Yes !"  to  the  highest 
that  he  knows  ?  He  that  does  this  belongs  to  God,  though 
he  may  hardly  as  yet  know  the  name  of  him  who  speaks  to 


50  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

him.  He  who  fails  here  has  failed  wholly  (Matthew  5.  43- 
48;  22.  37-40).  (2)  Love.  Man's  "Yes"  opens  the  door 
to  God,  the  Spirit  of  goodness,  but  love  is  the  best  word 
to  describe  the  spirit  that  thus  comes  in.  It  is  more  than 
a  sentiment,  an  emotion.  It  is  a  character,  the  quality  of 
unselfishness,  of  unconquerable  good  will,  of  positive  serv- 
ice. It  is,  in  other  words,  the  spirit  of  Christ  and  the 
heart  of  God  himself.  This  simple  test  may  be  applied  in 
pagan  land  or  Christian,  with  children  or  old  folks,  to  the 
simple  and  the  wise.  One  touches  the  will,  the  spring  of 
all  life;  the  other  measures  the  heart,  the  inner  spirit  of 
the  man.  It  does  not  mean  perfection  in  either  case;  it 
does  test  the  direction  and  spirit  of  a  man's  life,  and  tells 
surely  what  its  goal  will  be. 

Directions  foe  Study 

Scripture  references:  Matthew  5.  17-48;  Luke  11.  33-44. 

Review  the  principal  points  of  the  first  two  chapters,  espe- 
cially what  is  said  about  Jesus'  method  of  teaching  and  wrong 
methods  of  interpreting  his  words. 

Look  through  the  whole  Sermon  on  the  Mount  and  note 
how  all  three  chapters  deal  with  the  one  theme  of  the  true 
righteousness.  Note  how  Jesus'  method  of  teaching  is  illus- 
trated here.  He  is  practical,  vital,  concrete.  He  does  not  dis- 
cuss in  general  terms,  but  gives  concrete  examples  and  applica- 
tions. We  must  go  back  of  these  pictures  to  get  the  general 
principle. 

Note  how  this  chapter  builds  upon  the  last.  The  central 
thought  of  this  chapter  is  sonship,  and  the  idea  of  sonship 
flows  directly  from  that  of  Fatherhood. 

Read  with  great  care  Matthew  5.  17-48.  State  Jesus'  cen- 
tral teaching  here  and  show  how  this  is  illustrated  and  applied 
in  each  section. 

What  shall  the  modern  Christian  do  with  Matthew  5.  38- 
42?  Can  we  follow  its  letter?  Where  would  this  lead  us?  Do 
we  need  its  spirit?  What  changes  would  the  rule  of  this  spirit 
make? 

Read  Luke  11.  33-44.  Note  Jesus'  criticism  of  the  teaching 
and  practice  of  the  scribes  (lawyers)  and  the  Pharisees.  Here 
is  ground  for  their  bitter  hostility. 

Consider  Jesus'  own  spirit  and  life  as  illustration  of  his 
teaching  about  righteousness. 

Note  that  this  chapter  gives  us  in  a  nutshell  the  ethics  of 
Jesus,  his  ideal  as  to  human  character  and  conduct. 


CHAPTER  V 

SOXSHIP  AS  A  GIFT 

Jesus  had  accused  the  Pharisees  of  binding  upon  men's 
shoulders  burdens  that  could  not  be  borne.  But  if  the 
demand  of  the  law  was  hard,  was  not  the  demand  of  Jesus 
still  harder?  The  law  required  certain  deeds  and  gifts; 
Jesus  went  back  of  all  this  and  demanded  that  the  last 
thought  and  the  last  motive  should  belong  to  God.  It  was 
not  enough  to  refrain  from  murder;  there  must  be  no 
anger,  no  bitterness  in  a  man^s  heart,  no  impure  desire  in 
his  soul.  Love  for  friends  and  family  was  not  enough, 
nor  any  single  gift  or  deed  of  service;  a  man's  whole  life 
must  be  under  the  sway  of  the  spirit  of  love,  and  he  must 
show  that  continually  and  toward  all  men.  All  the  rules 
of  the  Pharisees  become  petty  and  easy  compared  with 
this.  No  wonder  the  disciples  exclaimed,  '^Then  who  can 
be  saved?"  Jesus  demands  that  which  is  impossible  for 
man.  Sonship,  in  the  sense  of  Jesus,  no  man  can  give  to 
God.  So  we  come  to  the  other  side  of  Jesus'  teaching: 
sonship  is  a  gift.  God  gives  to  men  that  sonship  which  he 
asks  of  them. 

Grace  as  the  Lav7  of  God's  Life 

Grace  in  the  Old  Testament. — The  law  of  God's  life  is 
grace;  such  is  the  message  of  Jesus.  The  Old  Testament 
was  not  without  its  vision  of  Jehovah  as  a  gracious  God. 
"When  Israel  was  a  child  [that  is,  when  he  was  insignifi- 
cant, helpless],  then  I  loved  him,  and  called  my  son  out  of 
Egypt"  (Hosea  11.  1).  "In  all  their  affliction  he  was 
afflicted,"  writes  the  Isaiah  of  the  exile,  "and  the  angel 
of  his  presence  saved  them:  in  his  love  and  in  his  pity  he 
redeemed  them ;  and  he  bare  them,  and  carried  them  all  the 

51 


52  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

days  of  old.  ...  I  dwell  in  the  high  and  holy  place,  with 
him  also  that  is  of  a  contrite  and  humble  spirit,  to  revive 
the  spirit  of  the  humble,  and  to  revive  the  heart  of  the 
contrite''  (Isaiah  63.  9;  57.  15.  Compare  Psalm  103.  3- 
14).  But  all  this  had  been  obscured  by  the  idea  of  God 
as  lawgiver  and  judge.  Men  felt  that  when  they  had 
earned  the  right  by  their  obedience,  then  God  would  treat 
them  as  sons,  then  he  would  receive  them  at  his  table  in 
the  Kingdom.  God's  presence  and  fellowship  were  a  re- 
ward which  men  must  first  deserve.  God's  justice  was  the 
rule  of  his  life,  and  justice  was  of  this  legal  kind. 

Grace  in  Jesus'  Conduct  and  Word. — As  elsewhere,  Jesus 
here  went  back  to  the  prophets.  Better  said,  Jesus  looked 
into  his  own  heart.  He  knew  what  God  was  from  the  spirit 
that  was  in  himself.  That  spirit  he  knew  to  be  God's 
Spirit.  When  he  received  sinners  and  ate  with  them,  he 
was  setting  forth  God's  way.  That  is  why  he  told  the 
parable  of  the  forgiving  father,  which  we  have  called  the 
parable  of  the  prodigal  son.  To  be  gracious  and  merciful 
is  the  very  heart  of  God,  it  is  the  rule  of  his  life.  When 
Jesus  served  men  and  healed  men,  when  he  poured  forth 
the  wealth  of  his  love  and  truth  for  the  humblest  and 
neediest,  he  was  simply  showing  forth  God's  heart  and 
acting  in  God's  way.  He  did  not,  like  the  scribes,  simply 
tell  men  what  to  do,  or  announce  judgment.  He  went  after 
men.  He  set  himself  in  mercy  to  seek  and  to  save  the 
lost.  Here  too,  he  declares,  he  is  only  showing  forth  God. 
God  is  the  Father  who  is  ever  watching  for  his  children 
to  turn  to  him,  and  going  forth  to  meet  them  on  the  way 
(Luke  15.  1,  2,  11-32). 

Sonship  Is  Gift  as  Well  as  Task. — Here,  then,  is  the 
second  meaning  of  sonship.  The  first  meaning  of  sonship 
as  studied  in  the  last  chapter  is  moral  likeness  to  God, 
with  which  alone  God  can  be  satisfied;  that  is  God's  demand 
and  man's  task  (Matthew  5.  45-48).  In  this  second  mean- 
ing, as  considered  in  this  chapter,  sonship  is  the  loving 
fellowship  with  himself  into  which  God  graciously  takes 
men;  sonship  is  God's  gift  (Luke  15.  20-24).  And  as  we 
study  this  further,  we  shall  see  how  task  and  gift  are  one. 


SONSHIP  AS  A  aiFT  53 

What  Is  Sonship  as  a  Gift? 

Christian  Forgiveness. — This  gift  of  sonship  involves 
forgiveness  first  of  all.  We  must,  however,  get  Jesus^  idea 
of  forgiveness.  Forgiveness  with  men  often  means  simply 
crossing  oif  a  debt,  canceling  a  charge.  It  is  looking  back- 
ward and  wiping  out  the  past.  With  Jesus  it  means  noth- 
ing less  than  God  taking  a  man  into  the  fellowship  of  a 
son  despite  the  sins  that  had  separated.  Forgiveness  means 
the  gift  of  sonship,  the  gift  of  life.  God  never  merely  for- 
gives sins,  he  forgives  the  sinner;  that  is,  he  takes  him  to 
himself.  With  God  forgiving  and  giving  always  go  to- 
gether. 

The  Gift  of  Fellowship. — The  end  of  forgiveness  is  thus 
fellowship,  and  fellowship  is  sonship.  It  is  not  a  part  of 
sonship,  it  is  sonship  itself.  One  may  say  it  is  not  a  part 
of  religion,  it  is  the  whole  of  religion  according  to  Jesus. 
The  life  with  the  Father  as  son  is  God's  great  gift  to  man, 
is  man's  great  privilege  and  end.  Prophet  and  psalmist 
had  seen  something  of  this  (see  Psalm  23)  ;  but  never  had 
it  been  seen  so  clearly,  and  set  forth  so  simply  and  beauti- 
fully. God  has  many  good  gifts,  but  there  is  none  like 
this  gift,  in  which,  indeed,  all  others  are  wrapped  up.  He 
is  willing  to  give  himself !  Here  is  the  wonder  of  Jesus^ 
teaching.  He  showed  men  the  God  high  and  lifted  up.  He 
taught  men  reverence.  He  showed  men,  indeed,  that  there 
was  nothing  else  to  be  feared  beside  this  God  who  had  all 
things  in  the  power  of  his  hand.  And  then  he  taught  men 
to  look  up  to  tliis  same  mighty  God  and  say,  ''Abba, 
Father."  He  made  them  feel  this  God  coming  into  their 
own  lives,  mercifully  calling  them,  willing  to  walk  with 
them,  ready  to  share  every  least  sorrow,  willing  to  give 
every  good  gift. 

The  New  Meaning  of  Religion. — Here  is  the  thought 
of  religion  with  which  Jesus  has  blessed  the  world.  Eeli- 
gion,  then  as  now,  was  filled  with  many  things.  It  meant 
a  great  institution,  with  its  priests  and  sacrifices.  It 
meant  a  sacred  book  with  many  commands.  It  meant  end- 
less rules  that  one  must  always  be  studying  and  keeping. 


64  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

All  these  Jesus  brushed  aside.  To  look  up  and  say,  "Our 
Father";  to  look  out  and  say,  "Brother" — that  is  religion. 
To  have  a  heart  filled  with  love,  the  love  that  is  utter 
humility  and  trust  before  God,  and  boundless  good  will 
toward  men — that  is  religion.  And  all  this  may  be  put 
into  the  one  word — "fellowship" :  to  live  as  a  son  with  the 
Father  and  with  one's  brothers.  All  faith  is  here,  all 
needed  doctrine.  All  trust  is  here,  and  peace.  All  confi- 
dence and  Joy  are  here,  all  service,  all  righteousness. 
Church  and  Scripture  and  creed  and  form — all  of  these 
we  need.  But  they  are  the  handmaids  of  religion,  not 
religion  itself.  Eeligion  is  to  live  the  life  of  a  son  with 
the  Father,  in  the  spirit  and  by  the  grace  of  Him  who  has 
shown  us  what  both  Fatherhood  and  sonship  mean. 

The  Power  of  a  New  Life 

The  Problem. — And  now  we  face  the  problem  with  which 
we  began.  What  about  the  demand  of  God?  Fellowship 
with  God  does  not  mean  simply  taking  his  gifts.  To  walk 
with  God  means  to  be  like  God.  Of  what  use  is  it  that 
God  shall  call  us  sons  when  we  are  not  sons?  Is  the  God 
of  Jesus  indifferent  to  holiness ;  can  he  look  upon  sin  -v^dth 
allowance?  How,  then,  can  he  receive  sinners  as  if  they 
were  sons?  And  of  what  help  is  it  that  he  invites  us  to 
come  to  him  ? 

"So  vile  I  am,  how  dare  I  hope  to  stand 
In  the  pure  glory  of  that  holy  land? 
Before  the  whiteness  of  that  throne  appear?" 

The  Answer. — The  answer  seems  a  paradox,  but  the 
Christian  knows  its  truth:  God  receives  us  as  sons  in  order 
that  we  may  become  sons.  The  trouble  has  been  that  we 
have  looked  at  the  relation  of  God  and  man  under  terms 
of  law  and  business;  so  much  credit  and  so  much  due. 
Jesus  turned  from  mart  and  court  and  took  the  home.  The 
world  is  God's  house  and  men  are  his  family,  his  children. 
They  are  not  servants  working  for  him;  they  are  sons 
being  trained.    The  father  does  not  say  to  his  boy,  "First 


SONSHIP  AS  A  GIFT  55 

become  true  and  strong  in  character,  and  then  I  will 
associate  with  you/^  He  takes  the  boy  into  fellowship  with 
himself  in  order  that  the  boy  may  become  like  himself. 
The  friends  of  a  certain  Eoman  once  asked  him  why 
he  dined  with  his  slaves.  "I  dine  with  some  of  them/'  he 
answered,  ^^because  they  are  worthy,  and  with  the  rest 
that  I  may  make  them  worthy." 

The  Transforming  Power  of  Fellowship. — Now  we  see, 
with  Jesus,  the  deeper  meaning  of  this  fellowship.  It  is 
not  a  reward:  it  is  God's  method  of  training  men.  The 
only  way  to  help  people  to  be  good  is  to  live  with  them.  The 
only  way  to  lift  up  human  life  is  to  give  life.  That  is  the 
work  of  the  teacher ;  it  is  not  to  give  ideas,  but  to  give  some- 
thing of  oneself.  That  is  the  highest  task  of  a  father  or 
a  mother:  to  live  with  one's  children  and  to  give  oneself 
to  the  children.  Clothing  and  food  and  shelter  and  school 
advantages  which  money  purchases  can  none  of  them  take 
the  place  of  fellowship  between  a  father  and  his  boy,  in 
which  a  father  gives  his  affection,  his  ideals,  his  spirit  to 
that  boy.  That  way  Jesus  went.  He  lived  with  men,  and 
there  was  no  other  way  to  save  men  except  this  way  of 
fellowship.  We  rightly  put  the  cross  at  the  center,  but 
the  death  of  Christ  would  have  had  no  meaning  but  for 
the  life  that  went  before.  And  the  glory  of  that  life  and 
death  is  the  conviction  which  it  brings  us,  that  through  him 
we  look  into  the  heart  of  our  Father.  God  is  no  mere 
power  dwelling  on  high,  handing  down  his  command  to 
men.  He  is  the  Presence,  dwelling  near  us  in  love,  walk- 
ing with  us  in  fellowship.  The  heart  of  our  lesson  is  this 
idea  of  the  transforming  power  of  fellowship.  That  is  the 
way  God  gives  life  to  men,  that  is  the  way  he  makes  men 
over.  God  asks  of  us  the  spirit  of  love.  We  cannot  make 
it;  we  can  only  open  our  heart  to  it.  And  so  he  gives  us 
what  he  asks. 

Sanctification. — It  may  profit  us  to  look  at  the  word 
^^sanctification"  and  see  the  place  of  this  doctrine  in  Jesus' 
teaching  about  sonship.  There  are  two  simple  meanings 
for  the  word  '' sanctification."  It  means,  first,  belonging 
to  God,  and,  second,  being  made  over  into  the  likeness  of 


56  THE  TEACHINaS  OF  JESUS 

God.  The  thought  of  sonship,  or  fellowship,  as  Jesus  pic- 
tures it,  throws  light  on  both  of  these,  and  includes  both. 
Sonship  means  belonging  to  God,  or  sanctification  in  the 
first  sense.  The  son  is  one  who  has  given  himself  to  the 
Father,  who  belongs  utterly  to  him  in  all  trust  and  love 
and  obedience.  But  it  is  upon  the  second  question  espe- 
cially that  light  is  thrown.  It  is,  of  course,  always  through 
the  Spirit  of  God  that  men  are  made  over,  or  made  holy 
in  life.  But  how  does  God^s  Spirit  come  and  how  does  liis 
Spirit  work?  We  answer,  in  and  through  the  fellowsliip 
which  we  have  with  God  as  his  children.  It  is  in  the 
fellowship  of  children,  in  the  practice  of  love  and  trust 
and  aspiration  and  obedience,  that  God  gives  us  his  Spirit. 
And  it  is  thus  that  the  life  of  men  is  made  over ;  it  is  thus 
that  we  grow  as  sons  into  the  likeness  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  Holy  Spirit. — And  here  the  doctrine  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  becomes  more  clear.  It  is  not  some  magic  power 
or  strange  presence  for  which  we  pray  when  we  ask  God 
for  his  Spirit.  We  are  asking  simply  for  his  presence,  for 
this  fellowship  which  alone  can  transform  our  life.  The 
presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  involves  this  fellowship  with 
God  on  the  one  hand,  and  a  Christlikeness  of  temper  and 
life  on  the  other. 

Other  Aspects  of  Sonship 

Sonship  and  the  New  Birth. — What  we  have  been  con- 
sidering here  is  what  the  church  has  called  regeneration, 
or  the  new  birth,  though  we  find  neither  of  these  names 
in  the  first  three  Gospels.  The  third  chapter  of  John 
speaks  of  the  new  birth,  or  the  birth  from  above  (Jolm 
3.  3,  margin).  We  cannot  always  be  sure  in  reading  the 
fourth  Gospel  whether  we  have  the  words  of  Jesus  or  the 
evangelist^s  interpretation  of  Jesus'  message  in  his  own 
language.  But  the  truth  brought  out  in  John  3  is  the 
same  teaching  of  Jesus  that  we  have  been  considering. 
What  John  says  in  mystical  phrase  the  other  Gospels  give 
in  simpler  speech.  When  God  receives  men  in  forgiveness 
as  his  sons,  he  puts  in  them  the  spirit  of  sonship.     This 


SONSHIP  AS  A  GIFT  57 

spirit  of  sonship  is  the  life  from  above,  the  new  birth.  So 
Paul  understood  it  (Galatians  4.  5,  6;  Eomans  8.  9,  14, 
15). 

The  Secret  of  Sonship. — In  a  passage  of  wonderful 
beauty  Jesus  points  out  what  this  fellowship  means  and 
how  men  may  enter  upon  it  (Matthew  11.  25-30).  This 
spirit  of  sonship  is  his  spirit.  He  has  the  secret  of  this 
fellowship,  it  is  his  own  life,  and  he  longs  in  his  love  to 
give  it  to  men.  The  secret  is  not  open  to  human  wisdom, 
the  clever  cannot  find  the  way.  But  children  may  find  it, 
the  humble  and  eager.  They  need  only  come  to  him.  And 
they  would  come,  if  they  only  knew  the  peace  and  joy  of 
that  life  as  he  knows  it.  And  so,  in  words  that  have  lured 
the  hearts  of  men  in  all  the  centuries  since,  he  speaks  his 
invitation:  "Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are 
heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest.  Take  my  yoke  upon 
you,  and  learn  of  me;  for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  in  heart: 
and  ye  shall  find  rest  unto  your  souls.  For  my  yoke  is 
easy,  and  my  burden  is  light.^' 

The  Scope  of  Sonship. — The  questions  have  often  been 
debated.  Is  God  the  Father  of  all  men  ?  Are  all  men  chil- 
dren of  God?  A  large  part  of  this  controversy  has  come 
from  failure  to  understand  what  is  meant  by  Fatherhood 
and  sonship.  Fatherhood,  in  Jesus'  sense,  means  the  spirit 
of  grace  and  good  will  toward  men.  This  spirit  God 
shows  toward  all  men,  evil  and  good  (Matthew  5.  45). 
He  is,  therefore,  the  Father  of  all,  not  only  in  the  lesser 
sense  that  he  has  brought  forth  all  men  in  his  image,  but 
in  this  high  and  absolute  sense  of  his  character.  Because 
it  is  God's  character  that  makes  him  Father,  he  will  al- 
ways be  a  Father  to  all  men.  It  is  different  with  men. 
There  is  the  lesser  sense  in  which  all  men  are  sons  of  God. 
God  has  made  them  all  in  his  image,  with  the  capacity  for 
knowing  and  loving  him,  and  all  belong  to  him.  But  in 
the  higher  and  truer  sense,  as  Jesus  uses  the  word  in 
Matthew  5.  45,  men  are  sons  only  when  they  are  like  God 
in  character.  They  must  have  the  Father's  spirit  to  be 
the  Father's  children.  It  is  character  that  makes  sonship 
just  as  it  makes  Fatherhood.    Men  must  love  as  God  loves 


68  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

in  order  to  be  sons  of  their  Father.  Using  the  words,  then, 
in  this  higher  sense,  we  may  say  that  God  is  the  Father  of 
all  men  and  that  men  a,re  to  become  his  sons. 

DiEECTIONS  FOE  StUDY 

Scripture  references:  Luke  15.  1,  2,  11-32;  Matthew  11.  25- 
30;  John  3.  1-16. 

Review  the  main  points  of  the  last  two  chapters.  Note  care- 
fully how  Jesus'  idea  of  God  as  Father  determines  all  his 
other  teaching.  The  last  chapter  gave  the  heart  of  Jesus' 
teaching  about  ethics;  here  we  have  the  heart  of  his  thought 
of  religion. 

Read  again  the  story  of  the  prodigal  son  with  one  question 
in  mind:  What  does  it  tell  about  the  character  of  God  and  the 
way  he  receives  men?  State  the  narrower  and  the  larger  mean- 
ing of  forgiveness. 

With  this  same  parable  before  you,  consider  what  this  re- 
stored sonship  meant  to  the  boy:  (1)  a  gracious  gift,  the  fel- 
lowship and  friendship  of  his  father;  (2)  a  great  demand,  to 
live  up  to  the  spirit  of  this  home  and  the  character  of  such 
a  father;  (3)  a  great  help,  the  love  and  sympathy  of  his 
father  as  a  help  to  lead  the  new  life.  How  far  is  all  this  true 
of  a  man's  life  with  God? 

Read  Matthew  11.  25-30  and  consider  the  transforming  power 
of  fellowship.  Find  illustrations  of  this  in  the  home,  and  in 
the  person  of  friend  or  teacher  or  pastor.  Are  men  ever  helped 
apart  from  some  such  personal  touch?  How  does  Jesus  him- 
self give  such  personal  help  to  his  followers?  Note  that  his 
great  promise  here  is  that  he  will  lead  men  into  that  fellow- 
ship with  God  which  was  his  own  strength  and  joy. 


CHAPTEE  VI 
SIN,  EEPENTANCE,  AND  FAITH 

The  message  of  Jesus  was  one  of  hope  and  good  cheer. 
"Love  is  the  law  of  God's  life/'  he  said.  True,  the 
Pharisees  too  spoke  of  God's  love ;  but  they  said,  "God  loves 
the  good,"  and  they  were  ever  separating  the  sinners  from 
the  saints.  For  the  saints  they  held  up  promise  of  reward, 
for  the  sinners  only  condemnation.  Jesus  said,  "The 
heavenly  Father  loves  all."  To  harlots  and  taxgatherers 
and  all  manner  of  outcasts  he  declared,  "God  is  j-our  Father 
and  is  ready  to  receive ;  nay,  more,  he  has  gone  out  to  look 
for  you." 

Such  a  proclamation  seems  at  first  glance  to  take  out 
of  religion  all  moral  demand,  to  leave  the  matter  of 
righteousness  wholly  to  one  side,  to  make  religion  a  pure 
gift,  a  mere  matter  of  God's  mercy.  If  God  thus  loves  the 
evil  as  the  good,  what  have  men  to  concern  themselves 
about  ?  Only  the  shallowest  thinking  can  so  regard  Jesus' 
message.  The  good  news  is  not  an  encouragement  to  rest 
easy;  it  is  a  tremendous  call  to  repentance  and  righteous- 
ness. If  God  so  loves,  if  he  is  waiting  to  receive  you  as  his 
son,  then  it  is  time  to  hate  the  old  ways,  to  seek  the  new 
ones.  Such  love  shows  what  sin  really  is,  such  love  sum- 
mons men  to  turn  about,  such  love  demands  faith  and  life. 
No  man  ever  condemned  sin  like  this  prophet  of  love  and 
mercy,  and  no  one  ever  issued  such  a  trumpet  call  to 
repentance. 

Jesus'  Teaching  About  Sin 

The  Heart  of  Sin. — There  is  always  a  danger  that  our 
ideas  of  sin  and  righteousness  shall  become  conventional 
and  shallow.  There  are  people  who  are  narrow,  selfish, 
censorious,  domineering,  and  yet  who  consider  themselves 

59 


60  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

unusually  pious,  it  may  be,  because  they  observe  this  form 
or  avoid  that  amusement.  There  were  men  in  Jesus'  time 
who  ignored  pride  and  hardness  of  heart,  but  who  were 
horrified  at  the  breaking  of  some  Sabbath  rule.  It  is  in- 
teresting to  note  what  Jesus  points  out  as  sinful  in  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount.  To  be  selfish  or  hard  or  unforgiv- 
ing toward  your  brother,  that  is  sin.  To  care  for  anything 
else  more  than  for  the  right,  that  is  sin.  To  fear  anything 
more  than  you  fear  God,  to  love  anything  more  than  you 
love  God,  that  is  sin.  Fear,  worry,  selfishness,  greed,  half- 
heartedness  toward  God,  hard-heartedness  toward  men — 
these  are  the  sins  that  concern  Jesus.  The  heart  of  sin  is 
the  denial  of  the  heart  of  goodness.^  The  test  of  goodness 
is  man's  "Yes"  to  the  highest  that  he  knows;  the  test  of 
sin  is  man's  "No"  to  good  and  God.  The  heart  of  good- 
ness is  the  inner  spirit  of  love,  or  good  will;  the  heart  of 
sin  is  selfishness. 

Sin  in  All  Men. — Jesus  saw  this  sin  in  the  hearts  of  all 
men.  It  is  true  he  recognizes  differences;  he  speaks  very 
simply  of  the  good  man  and  the  evil  man  (Matthew  12. 
35).  But  goodness  is  simply  relative  here;  over  against 
the  standard  of  God  even  good  men  are  evil  (Matthew  7. 
11).  It  has  been  pointed  out  that  Jesus  calls  some  men 
righteous,  and  declares  that  he  came  not  to  call  these,  but 
sinners,  to  repentance  (Matthew  9.  10-13) ;  but  a  little 
attention  will  show  the  irony  in  Jesus'  word.  These  men 
were  "righteous"  after  their  own  fashion,  but  it  was  not 
the  righteousness  of  God;  for  God  said,  "I  desire  mercy, 
and  not  sacrifice,"  and  these  men  were  hard  and  unforgiv- 
ing. Plain  and  unmistakable  is  his  position  in  the  parable 
of  the  two  in  the  temple,  where  he  speaks  of  those  "who 
trusted  in  themselves  that  they  were  righteous,  and  set  all 
others  at  naught"  (Luke  18.  9-14). 

A  Keener  Sense  of  Sin  Needed. — One  of  the  deep  needs 
of  to-day  is  a  keener  sense  of  sin.  We  are  too  indifferent 
toward  sin,  too  ready  to  condone  it.  There  are  certain 
forms  of  sin  which  we  are  quick  enough  to  condemn,  but 

» See  Chapter  IV. 


SIN,  EEPENTANCE,  AND  FAITH  61 

they  are  not  always  the  most  serious.  If  a  man  but  keep 
within  certain  limits  he  may  be  arrogant,  self-seeking,  lack- 
ing alike  in  humility  and  brotherly  kindness,  and  we  pass 
it  by  ofttimes  without  a  word.  We  praise  a  man  as  a  bene- 
factor though  the  girls  in  his  shop  do  not  get  a  living  wage. 
He  may  make  himself  rich  out  of  the  needs  of  the  poor, 
but  we  are  silent  so  long  as  he  observes  the  forms  of  the 
law.  And  how  often  do  we  tolerate  in  our  own  lives  the 
thing  that  we  know  to  be  impure  or  selfish  or  unbrotherly  ? 
We  need  to  feel  more  deeply  the  eternal  difference  between 
right  and  wrong,  the  shame  of  all  evil,  the  glory  of  all 
good.  Especially  do  we  need  in  all  our  leaders  of  Church 
and  state  a  deeper  passion  for  righteousness,  a  greater 
abhorrence  of  all  self-seeking,  a  more  loving  and  earnest 
concern  for  the  common  man. 

Social  Repentance. — In  one  aspect  we  may  find  some 
encouragement  to-day,  and  that  is  in  the  new  social  pas- 
sion and  social  penitence.  It  is  significant  that  it  is  here 
that  Jesus'  indignation  against  sin  was  the  strongest. 
Tender  and  patient  with  the  individual,  he  was  stem 
enough  with  the  sins  of  men  toward  others.  His  woe  is 
pronounced  against  the  man  that  makes  the  little  ones 
to  stumble.  That  is  why  priest  and  scribe  and  Pharisee 
felt  his  scourge.  We  are  coming,  though  slowly,  to  share 
Jesus'  vision.  We  have  been  wont  to  point  out  the  in- 
dividual consequences  of  sin,  to  warn  men  of  the  hell  to 
which  they  are  tending.  We  need  to  point  out  the  hell 
upon  earth  that  sin  makes  for  others.  Sin  is  that  wliich 
hinders  God's  kingdom;  sin  is  that  which  curses  our 
brothers  and  sisters.  And  we  are  all  responsible.  It  is 
easy  to  rail  at  saloon  keeper  and  dive  keeper  and  corrupt 
politician,  but  how  long  could  these  live  if  good  people 
had  the  goodness  that  Christ  wants  ?  Such  goodness  must 
know  how  to  hate  evil  and  love  good  and  fight  with  God. 

The  Message  of  Repentance 

The  Demand  of  Jesus. — The  call  to  repentance  had  been 
John's  stirring  summons.     He  had  told  the  j)eople  that 


62  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

the  coming  of  God's  kingdom  meant  not  so  much  the 
triumph  of  the  nation,  as  a  day  of  judgment  and  of  separa- 
tion for  the  people.  Let  them  therefore  make  ready  and 
repent.  It  was  this  word  that  Jesus  took  up  when  the 
great  prophet's  lips  closed  in  death :  "The  kingdom  of  God 
is  at  hand:  repent  ye,  and  believe  in  the  gospel"  (]\lark 
1.  14,  15).  John  saw  that  men  were  not  ready  for  God's 
judgment;  Jesus  saw  that  they  were  not  ready  for  God's 
love,  and  so  his  whole  ministry-  is  one  great  summons  to 
repentance.  He  sends  out  his  disciples  with  this  message 
(Mark  6.  12).  He  declares  that  the  purpose  of  his  coming 
is  to  call  sinners  to  repent.  He  tells  the  Pharisees  that  he 
is  like  another  Jonah,  calling  the  age  to  repentance  (Mat- 
thew 12.  41).  It  is  the  failure  to  repent  with  wliich  he 
upbraids  the  cities  of  the  plain  (Matthew  11.  20).  His 
last  week  in  Jerusalem  is  one  great  appeal  to  the  nation 
to  turn  from  an  evil  and  mistaken  course.  The  doctrine 
of  Jesus  is  not  that  of  an  easy  and  indulgent  Father  over- 
looking the  sins  of  men;  it  is  a  heroic  call  to  a  change  of 
heart  and  life.  And  man's  answer  to  that  call,  he  declares, 
fills  all  heaven  with  joy  (Luke  15.  7,  10). 

What  Is  Repentance? — The  Greek  word  used  in  our 
Gospels,  metanoia,  means  literally  a  change  of  thought,  or 
mind;  but  that  does  not  give  Jesus'  full  thought.  Neither 
is  it  enough  to  think  of  repentance  as  being  merely  a  feel- 
ing of  regret  or  sorrow,  no  matter  how  deep.  Nor  does  it 
refer  simply  to  the  past.  All  these  elements  are  included 
in  repentance  and  more,  for  it  is  nothing  less  than  a 
revolution  in  a  man's  life.  Repentance  includes  a  change 
of  mind,  or  thought.  The  man  that  repents,  like  the 
prodigal,  comes  to  himself.  He  has  been  beside  himself; 
now  for  the  first  time  he  is  sane.  He  sees  his  sin  and  he 
sees  life  in  the  right  light.  His  whole  attitude  of  mind 
is  altered.  But  this  is  more  than  a  change  of  thinking; 
his  feelings  are  stirred.  There  is  a  sorrow  over  sin  (2 
Corinthians  7.  11),  a  hatred  of  it.  And  finally  his  will 
enters  in.  Tears  may  mean  remorse;  of  tliemselves  they 
do  not  mean  repentance.  Repentance  is  man's  "about 
face"  in  purpose  as  well  as  in  mind  and  feeling.    And  so 


SIN,  EEPENTAISTCE,  AND  FAITH  63 

repentance  looks  forward  as  well  as  backward;  the  turning 
away  from  sin  involves  a  man^s  longing  for  something 
higher. 

Pictures  of  Sinners. — All  this  we  gather  not  from  so 
many  words  spoken  by  Jesus,  but  from  his  pictures  of  sin- 
ners and  his  own  dealings  with  them.  There  is  the 
prodigal  son.  His  repentance  begins  on  a  pretty  low  plane ; 
he  is  simply  hungry.  But  the  stomach  pangs  of  the  wan- 
derer, like  the  need  of  many  a  wretch  who  has  drifted  into 
a  rescue  mission,  are  simply  God's  opportunity.  When  at 
last  he  turns  home,  he  knows  his  sin  and  he  wants  his 
father ;  it  is  his  sin  that  he  talks  about  when  he  meets  that 
father,  and  not  bread.  The  publican  in  the  temple  shows 
even  more  clearly  the  thought  of  Jesus  (Luke  18.  13). 
Here  is  the  very  essence  of  repentance:  its  humility  that 
will  not  so  much  as  lift  up  its  eyes,  the  sense  of  sin  that 
cries  "me  a  sinner,"  the  longing  for  God  that  makes  him 
plead  "God  be  merciful."  And  so  Jesus  approves  the  poor 
publican,  just  as  he  did  that  son  who  at  first  refused  but 
afterward  "repented  himself,  and  went"  (Matthew  21. 
28,29). 

Jesus'  Intercourse  with  Sinners  shows  clearly  what  he 
thought  of  repentance,  how  he  rejoiced  over  it,  and  how 
tenderly  he  dealt  with  those  that  were  stirred  with  his 
sorrow.  There  is  the  story  of  the  woman  who  washed  his 
feet  with  her  tears  and  anointed  them  with  ointment  (Luke 
7.  36-50).  The  Pharisee,  Jesus'  host,  saw  only  a  sinner, 
a  woman  of  ill  repute;  Jesus  saw  a  soul  stirred  with  the 
passion  of  penitence  that  gave  promise  of  a  new  life.  The 
story  of  another  and  like  woman  in  John's  Gospel  (8. 
1-11)  shows  Jesus'  contrasted  attitude  toward  penitent 
and  unrepentant.  Jesus  saw  that  the  woman  taken  in 
adultery  was  not  the  only  sinner  present  in  that  company ; 
indeed,  was  there  one  of  those  about  him  who  had  not  been 
guilty  at  least  of  evil  desire  ?  And  was  not  their  presence 
a  sign  of  hard  vindictiveness  ?  Only,  these  men  were  un- 
repentant. "He  that  is  without  sin  among  you,  let  him 
first  cast  a  stone  at  her."  With  that  word  and  with  one 
look  he  convicted  them  and  sent  them  out.    We  are  not  told 


64  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

that  the  woman  repented,  but  who  can  doubt  from  that 
final  word  of  Jesus  what  happened?  She  came  hard, 
defiant.  She  stood  in  that  presence  which  was  as  pure  as 
it  was  merciful.  She  left  in  penitence  with  his  words  in 
her  ears:  "Neither  do  I  condemn  thee:  go  thy  way;  from 
henceforth  sin  no  more.'' 

Repentance  and  Righteousness. — The  meaning  of  Chris- 
tian repentance  may  be  seen  when  we  recall  Jesus^  idea  of 
righteousness.  If  righteousness  is  an  inner  spirit  and  life, 
then  it  is  not  enough  for  men  simply  to  stop  doing  evil 
deeds  and  begin  attempting  good  ones.  The  inner  atti- 
tude must  be  changed.  A  man  must  not  only  leave  sin, 
but  learn  to  hate  it.  He  must  not  only  turn  to  the  new 
life,  but  he  must  do  so  with  an  inner  passion  of  desire  and 
devotion. 

Jesus'  Teaching  About  Faith 

What  Is  Faith? — What  we  have  to  consider  here  is  not 
the  broad  question  of  faith  in  general,  but  faith  as  joined 
to  repentance  at  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  life.  What 
was  the  faith  that  Jesus  asked  of  men?  First  of  all,  it 
was  not  mere  belief.  It  is  true  we  read  in  Mark  1.  15, 
"Repent  ye,  and  believe  in  the  gospel."  But  the  word  "be- 
lieve" is  put  here  in  our  English  Bible  because  we  have 
no  verb  in  English  that  corresponds  to  the  noun  "faith," 
The  original  Greek  has  such  a  word.  Faith  with  Jesus 
meant  a  personal  trust  and  surrender.  That  was  what  he 
asked  of  men  in  relation  to  himself.  He  did  not  begin 
by  saying:  "What  do  you  believe  about  me?  Do  you  con- 
sider me  to  be  the  Messiah  ?"  He  said,  "Arise,  follow  me  !" 
That  was  what  he  asked  of  men  in  relation  to  God;  not, 
"What  do  you  believe  about  God?''  but,  "Will  you  give 
yourself  to  this  God  in  trust  ?" 

Why  Faith  Is  Needed. — Such  faith  is  tlie  beginning  of 
the  Christian  life  and  the  source  of  all  its  power.  With- 
out it  repentance  would  be  helpless  and  hopeless.  With 
this  faith  there  come  the  forgiveness  of  sin  and  all  the 
gifts  of  the  new  life.  All  this  follows  from  Jesus'  thought 
of  God.    All  power,  all  love,  all  joy  and  peace,  every  good 


SIX,  REPENTANCE,  AND  FAITH  65 

gift  is  with  God.  And  God  does  not  give  tliem  grudgingly. 
He  does  not  keep  them  for  the  few,  for  the  righteous  and 
deserving.  Giving  is  the  very  life  of  God;  to  give  to  men 
is  his  joy  and  his  deepest  desire.  He  waits  to  help,  to  heal, 
to  forgive,  to  save.  He  is  the  father  who  goes  out  to  meet 
his  returning  son  upon  the  way.  What,  then,  is  needed 
that  men  may  have  all  this  ?  Just  one  thing :  faith.  Not 
a  system  of  doctrines  hard  to  accept  and  harder  to  under- 
stand, but  the  trust  of  a  child  going  to  his  father.  God 
can  make  his  sun  to  shine  upon  the  evil  and  the  good;  he 
can  give  rain  and  harvests  to  the  just  and  the  unjust.  But 
he  can  give  forgiveness  and  love  only  to  men  of  trust  and 
of  the  open  heart. 

The  Door  of  Life. — This,  then,  is  the  door  to  all  life  and 
joy  and  peace,  an  utter  and  self-abandoning  trust  in  God, 
simple  and  whole-hearted  like  that  of  a  child.  In  such 
faith  lay  Jesus^  own  power;  he  declares  that  it  is  by  the 
finger  of  God  that  he  casts  out  demons.  In  that  trust  he 
faced  and  vanquished  the  tempter,  and  in  that  confidence  he 
went  to  the  cross.  He  asks  that  faith  of  others,  and  where 
it  is  lacking  he  cannot  heal  (Mark  6.  5).  Where  he  finds 
it,  it  fills  his  heart  with  joy  (Matthew  8.  10).  "Thy  faith 
hath  saved  thee,'^  he  says,  when  he  forgives  or  heals  (Mark 
5.  34;  Luke  7.  50).  All  things  are  possible  to  the  man 
with  faith,  he  declares  to  the  father  of  the  epileptic  boy. 
But  he  is  willing  also  to  take  even  the  feeble  faith  that 
cries  out,  "I  believe;  help  thou  mine  unbelief"  (Mark 
9.  23,  24). 

Directions  for  Study 

The  Scripture  passages:  Matthew  6.  22,  23;  7.  11;  Mark  1. 
14,  15;  Luke  13.  1-5;  15.  7,  10,  17-19;  7.  50;  11.  20;  Mark 
9.  23,  24. 

Recall  the  main  points  in  the  last  three  lessons;  they  are 
fundamental  for  all  our  study.  Note  God's  character  as  per- 
fectly righteous  and  as  perfectly  good.  From  the  first  comes 
Jesus'  demand  as  to  man's  righteousness;  from  the  second 
comes  the  great  message  of  mercy,  that  the  Father  is  willing 
to  give  sonship  to  men. 

Read  carefully  the  lesson  discussion,  looking  up  all  Scripture 
passages.  Note  how  the  discussion  all  the  way  through  builds 
upon  the  previous  lessons. 


66  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

Now  go  back  to  the  three  main  points  of  the  lesson:  sin, 
repentance,  faith.  Concerning  each  of  these  ask  yourself  two 
questions:  What  is  Jesus'  central  teaching?  and.  What  has  that 
to  say  to  me?    Give  a  definition  of  each. 

Why  are  repentance  and  faith  necessary  before  there  can 
be  any  fellowship  with  God? 


CHAPTEE  VII 

HUMILITY  AND  ASPIRATION 

We  have  been  considering  the  question  of  the  beginning 
of  the  Christian  life,  or  the  entrance  into  the  Kingdom. 
There  is  God's  side  first  of  all,  as  Jesus  pointed  it  out. 
The  way  of  entrance  is  not  our  goodness,  not  our  deserving ; 
it  is  the  grace  of  God,  ^Vhose  property  is  always  to  have 
mercy.''  Sonship  is  God's  gift.  But  there  is  man's  side 
too,  the  turning  from  sin  in  penitence  of  soul,  the  opening 
of  the  heart  in  obedient  trust.  Thus  the  life  begins  with 
gracious  forgiveness  on  God's  side,  with  repentance  and 
faith  on  ours.  In  the  next  three  chapters  we  consider  this 
new  life  of  man  in  his  relation  with  God;  thereafter  the 
Christian  life  as  it  is  lived  by  man  with  fellow  men. 

Humility  and  Desiee 

The  Reversal  of  Values. — Nowhere  is  the  genius  and 
originality  of  Jesus  seen  more  clearly  than  in  this,  that  he 
puts  the  spirit  of  humility  and  desire  first.  The  philoso- 
pher Nietzsche  charged  Jesus  with  a  "reversal  of  all 
values,"  putting  down  what  men  had  hitherto  praised,  lift- 
ing up  what  they  had  despised.  That  is  true.  Men  praised 
strength,  and  mastery,  and  success.  The  Jewish  scribe 
and  the  Roman  sage  were  not  unlike  here.  Their  bless- 
ings were  for  the  man  who  had  won:  the  man  who  had 
mastered  the  law,  said  the  scribe;  the  man  who  was  mas- 
ter of  himself  and  his  world,  said  the  sage.  In  either  case 
it  was  the  man  who  had,  the  self-sufficient  man.  Jesus 
praised  the  man  who  had  not,  the  man  dissatisfied,  the  man 
that  longed  for  something  more. 

Man's  Need,  God's  Generosity. — It  is  not  hard  to  under- 
stand this  teaching  of  Jesus  if  we  will  only  consider  his 

67 


68  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

thought  of  God.  Two  things  were  true  of  God.  First, 
he  was  the  source  of  all  life.  Men  had  nothing  except  as 
it  came  from  liim ;  and  all  the  want  of  men  was  from  lack 
of  God  in  their  life.  They  were  anxious  and  worried  and 
weak  because  they  had  never  really  seen  God's  power  and 
learned  to  trust  him.  They  were  narrow  and  hard  and 
selfish  because  they  did  not  know  the  Father's  spirit.  They 
made  themselves  the  slaves  of  mere  things.  Mammon  wor- 
shipers, because  they  had  never  found  the  highest  good  of 
life,  which  is  in  God.  In  the  second  place,  this  God  who 
had  all  things  was  ready  to  give  all.  That  was  his  very 
nature:  he  was  Father.  The  law  of  his  life  was  love,  the 
desire  to  help  and  bless  men. 

The  Obstacle. — What,  then,  stood  in  the  way?  Only  one 
thing:  men  did  not  see  and  men  did  not  care.  The  blind- 
ness of  men  Jesus  sought  to  change  by  his  teaching;  he 
showed  them  this  God  waiting  to  receive  and  give,  and  this 
life  of  strength  and  joy.  But  the  real  obstacle  was  the 
self-satisfaction  of  men.  It  was  not  the  sin  of  men.  We 
know  how  he  received  the  lowest  and  most  vile.  He  had 
no  doubt  about  these;  "Go  and  sin  no  more,"  he  said.  But 
where  men  did  not  know  the  need  of  God  how  could  God 
come  in  ?  How  could  God  give  where  men  were  j^roud  and 
self -centered  ?  That  was  why  Jesus  rejoiced  over  those 
that  sorrowed ;  that  was  why  he  praised  humility  and  long- 
ing. It  was  not  that  these  sinners  were  better  than  others ; 
it  was  because  their  hearts  were  open  to  God,  and  for  Jesus 
that  was  the  promise  of  all  goodness,  and  the  only  promise. 

What  Is  Humility? — There  is  probably  no  Christian 
virtue  which  is  more  misunderstood  than  humility. 
Humility  is  not  hypocritical  self-depreciation ;  it  is  not  self- 
depreciation  at  all.  The  true  Christian  does  not  call  him- 
self a  worm  of  the  dust;  on  the  contrar}%  he  knows 
that  he  is  a  son  of  the  Most  High.  Only  he  knows  that 
this  high  place  is  all  the  gift  of  God,  and  not  of  his  own 
worth  or  desert.  Nor  does  Christian  humility  sing,  "0, 
to  be  nothing,  nothing."  The  New  Testament,  on  the  con- 
trary, declares  that  we  are  to  be  strong  and  wise  and  rich 
in  good  works  and  to  quit  ourselves  like  men;  we  are  not 


HUMILITY  AND  ASPIEATIOlSr  69 

to  be  empty,  but  to  be  filled.  But  the  Christian  also  realizes 
that  all  this  life  comes  from  God;  he  knows  his  utter 
dependence  upon  God  and  in  his  joy  and  strength  has  the 
perfect  humility  of  a  child,  knowing  no  life  but  that  from 
God,  having  no  will  but  that  of  God. 

Humility  and  Strength. — Such  humility  belongs  not  to 
weaklings,  but  to  men  who  are  as  strong  as  they  are  clear- 
eyed.  This  is  what  Ruskin  says  in  his  Modern  Painters: 
"I  believe  the  first  test  of  a  truly  great  man  is  his  humility. 
I  do  not  mean  by  humility  doubt  of  his  own  powers,  or 
hesitation  of  speaking  his  opinions;  but  a  right  under- 
standing of  the  relation  between  what  he  can  do  and  say 
and  the  rest  of  the  world's  doings  and  sayings.  All  great 
men  not  only  know  their  business,  but  usually  know  that 
they  know  it,  and  are  not  only  right  in  their  main  opinions, 
but  they  usually  know  that  they  are  right  in  them,  only 
they  do  not  think  much  of  themselves  on  that  account. 
Arnolf 0  knows  that  he  can  build  a  good  dome  at  Florence ; 
Albert  Duerer  writes  calmly  to  one  who  has  found  fault 
with  his  work,  'It  cannot  be  done  better* ;  Sir  Isaac  Newton 
knows  that  he  has  worked  out  a  problem  or  two  that  would 
have  puzzled  anybody  else;  only  they  do  not  expect  their 
fellow  men  therefore  to  fall  down  and  worship  them.  They 
have  a  curious  undersense  of  powerlessness,  feeling  that  the 
power  is  not  in  them,  but  through  them,  that  they  could 
not  be  or  do  anything  else  than  God  made  them,  and  they 
see  something  divine  and  God-made  in  every  other  man 
they  meet,  and  are  endlessly,  foolishly,  incredibly  merciful.'* 

The  Soul  of  a  Christian 

The  Soul  of  a  Christian. — "Whenever  there  is  danger  of 
obscurity  as  to  what  Jesus'  teaching  means,  then  we  will 
turn  again  and  again  to  the  Beatitudes  of  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount.  They  contain  his  ethics  and  his  religion, 
joined  in  one  root  and  freed  from  all  that  is  external  and 
particularistic."  So  writes  Professor  Harnack  in  his 
volume,  What  is  Christianity?  The  Beatitudes  undertake 
to  answer  the  question,  To  whom  shall  the  Kingdom  be- 


70  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

long?  Practically,  however,  they  set  forth  for  us  the  soul 
of  a  Christian.  Not  all  of  the  Christian  life  is  set  forth 
in  them,  but  here  is  its  heart.  The  Beatitudes  must  be 
considered  together,  for  Jesus  is  setting  forth  one  spirit 
and  not  describing  different  classes  of  people. 

Humility  and  Desire. — What  kind  of  a  man  then  shall 
receive  the  Kingdom?  The  man  who  has  kept  the  law, 
said  the  Pharisees,  the  man  who  has  achieved ;  and  as  they 
said  it,  proud  and  self-satisfied,  they  thought  of  themselves. 
We  may  understand,  then,  the  surprise  with  which  men 
listened  to  Jesus^  opening  words.  The  blessed,  said  Jesus, 
are  the  poor  in  spirit,  the  men  who  know  their  need;  and 
these  shall  receive  the  Kingdom.  The  blessed  are  not  the 
contented,  but  those  filled  with  sorrow  at  the  knowledge 
of  their  need.  They  are  the  meek,  not  the  proud;  they 
have  no  will  of  their  own  before  God,  only  a  perfect  and 
contented  submission  to  him.  But  though  meek  and  poor 
in  spirit,  they  are  not  wanting  in  desire;  they  are  men 
with  a  passion  for  righteousness  that  is  like  a  consuming 
hunger.  The  central  thought  of  the  first  four  Beatitudes 
is  one :  the  spirit  of  humility  regarding  oneself,  the  spirit  of 
earnest  longing  toward  God.  With  these  goes  the  sixth, 
"Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart.^^  The  probable  meaning 
is  not  freedom  from  impure  thought,  but  rather  sincerity 
and  singleness  of  mind,  a  part  of  that  same  humility  and 
aspiration. 

Mercy  and  Peace. — The  last  three  Beatitudes  concern 
more  a  man^s  relation  to  his  fellows.  The  men  of  the 
Kingdom  will  be  merciful,  for  only  thus  can  they  be  sons 
of  their  Father.  They  will  be  peacemakers,  not  only  peace- 
able themselves,  but  bringing  peace  on  earth  because  they 
bring  righteousness.  And  because  they  have  this  passion 
for  righteousness,  they  will  not  desist  because  of  any  cost 
to  themselves;  they  will  endure  persecution. 

Humility  and  Love. — In  all  these  Beatitudes  Jesus  no- 
where uses  his  supreme  word,  ''love.^'  And  yet  it  is  plain 
that  that  word  underlies  all  these  sayings.  This  spirit  of 
humility  and  openness  and  earnest  longing  for  God,  what 
is  it  but  love  ?    The  first  element  in  our  love  for  God,  and 


HUMILITY  AND  ASPIRATION  71 

its  main  part,  is  letting  God  love  us.  That  love,  of  course, 
when  once  it  fills  and  rules  our  life,  will  lead  us  into  every 
activity  of  service ;  but  still  this  remains  first  and  supreme 
in  our  love  for  God,  the  sense  of  our  utter  dependence 
and  the  eager  desire  for  him  to  love  us.  And  the  spirit 
of  mercy  and  peace,  and  the  patient  attitude  under  persecu- 
tion, these  are  but  the  outworking  of  that  love  in  our  life 
with  others.  If  we  read,  then,  the  thirteenth  chapter  of 
First  Corinthians,  we  shall  find  that  song  of  love  in  the 
closest  relation  to  these  sayings  of  Jesus.  Both  show  the 
same  spirit  of  humility  and  devotion  and  desire  which  mark 
Christian  love. 

The  Spirit  of  a  Child 

The  Child  Spirit  and  the  Kingdom. — Side  by  side  with 
the  Beatitudes^'sharing  their  beauty  and  bringing  the  same 
lesson,  stands  the  message  of  the  child.  There  are  two 
stories  to  be  considered  here.  The  first  tells  how  the  little 
children  were  one  day  brought  to  Jesus  for  his  blessing, 
and  how  the  disciples  tried  to  keep  them  away  that  they 
might  not  interfere  with  the  Master's  work  (Mark  10.  13- 
16).  The  second  narrates  the  rebuke  which  Jesus  gave 
to  his  disciples  in  their  strife  as  to  which  of  them  was  great- 
est, and  how  he  taught  his  lesson  by  placing  the  child  in 
the  midst  (Matthew  18.  1-5).  Now,  in  both  cases  we  shall 
miss  the  lesson  if  we  look  only  at  the  child.  The  main 
purpose  of  Jesus  is  not  to  talk  of  the  child's  relation  to  the 
Kingdom,  but  of  the  spirit  that  his  disciples  must  have 
if  they  would  enter  that  Kingdom.  In  both  cases  the 
disciples  give  the  occasion  for  Jesus'  word  in  their  pride, 
their  self-importance,  their  ambition.  In  both  cases  Jesus' 
message  is  the  same:  the  men  of  the  Kingdom  must  have 
the  spirit  of  a  child. 

Childlikeness  not  Childishness. — It  is  easy  to  mistake 
Jesus'  meaning  here.  He  does  not  say  that  the  child  is 
the  goal  of  the  Christian  life  or  a  perfect  example.  The 
old  theologians  who  talked  about  little  children  as  though 
they  were  utterly  depraved  were  no  more  wrong  than  the 
modern  sentimentalists  who  talk  of  children  as  if  they  were 


72  THE  TEACHIIsraS  OF  JESUS 

angels.  The  little  child  is  neither  an  imp  nor  an  angel, 
though  the  same  child  appears  to  act  at  times  like  both. 
We  are  not  to  expect  little  children  to  be  saints;  that  be- 
longs to  mature  Christians.  The  child  is  simply  a  man  in 
the  making.  But  the  spirit  of  the  child  that  draws  us  all 
is  its  openness  and  teachableness,  its  willingness  to  trust 
and  to  love.  It  is  this  that  Jesus  commends,  not  the  im- 
maturity of  the  child  nor  even  its  purity.  The  interest  of 
childhood  for  us  is  not  in  its  attainment,  but  in  its  promise. 
It  is  all  open,  all  eager,  all  ready  to  trust  and  obey. 

The  Open  Heart  of  the  Child. — Here  again  are  humility 
and  desire,  the  thing  that  God  wants.  The  tragedy  of  life 
is  the  loss  of  the  spirit  of  the  child  that  comes  so  soon. 
We  lose  the  fine  confidence  in  goodness  and  love;  we  lose 
our  dreams :  we  grub  in  the  muck  with  our  rake  and  forget 
the  sky  and  the  stars.  We  lose  our  high  hopes  and  ambitions 
and  are  cheaply  satisfied.  There  is  only  one  way  to  life: 
we  must  get  again  the  open  heart  and  the  longing  heart 
that  we  lost  with  our  childhood.  Only  so,  says  Jesus,  can 
we  enter  the  Kingdom.  We  might  turn  the  word  about 
and  say,  only  so  can  God  enter  into  us;  for  the  spirit  of 
the  child  is  the  open  door  for  God. 

The  Day  of  the  Child. — Our  day  is  the  day  of  the  child. 
The  interest  in  the  child  came  at  first  because  of  the  help- 
lessness of  the  child.  So  we  planned  child-labor  laws  to 
protect  the  child  from  exploitation,  and  compulsory  educa- 
tion to  secure  him  his  rights.  More  and  more  we  are  seeing, 
however,  that  it  is  the  life  of  the  race,  and  not  merely  the 
right  of  the  child,  that  is  at  stake.  And  this  lesson  on 
humility  and  desire  shows  why  this  is  so.  The  child  is 
our  great  chance  to  make  over  the  world.  The  man  past 
thirty  rarely  changes  in  his  fundamental  ideas  and  habits. 
We  are  hoping  and  praying  to-day  for  a  new  world.  In 
that  new  world  there  will  be  little  of  sickness  and  disease, 
and  none  of  war.  The  strong  will  not  exploit  the  weak, 
whether  among  nations  or  men.  Broad  of  mind,  clean  of 
body,  strong,  just,  kind,  a  new  race  of  men  shall  walk  the 
earth.  How  shall  the  new  world  come?  Can  we  convert 
the  chancelleries  of  Europe,  the  rulers  and  legislators  of 


HUMILITY  AND  ASPIRATION  73 

the  earth  ?  Can  we  make  over  the  hearts  of  man-ufacturers 
and  merchant  princes?  Can  we  transform  the  men  of  a 
city  from  intemperance  and  lust  to  sobriety  and  purity? 
Can  we  change  our  citizenship  from  narrowness  and  in- 
difference to  alertness  and  unselfish  devotion  to  the  whole  ? 
Can  we  win  the  estranged  masses  to  the  faith  and  life  of 
Jesus  Christ?  Yes,  we  can  do  it — with  a  few;  but  the 
real  hope  of  the  world  is  not  with  the  grown-up  men. 
Here,  however,  is  the  steady  flowing  stream  of  childhood 
that  comes  anew  to  every  generation.  The  habits  of  men 
are  fixed,  the  life  of  the  child  is  plastic.  The  hearts  of 
men  are  filled  with  many  interests  and  cares,  the  child  is 
open.  All  that  is  beautiful  and  good,  all  that  is  high  and 
holy,  may  enter  the  world  of  to-morrow  through  the  gate 
of  the  child  of  to-day.  That  is  why  we  say  to  greed  and 
selfishness  and  ignorance,  "Hands  off!"  That  is  why  we 
must  fight  for  good  housing  conditions,  child-labor  laws, 
a  living  wage  for  the  father  that  will  let  mother  and  child 
stay  at  home,  and  a  system  of  public  education  that  shall 
fit  the  child  to  live.  And  that  is  why  the  Church  may 
spare  no  thought  or  toil  or  means  in  her  greatest  task  and 
her  greatest  opportunity :  the  religious  training  of  the  child. 
It  is  Jesus'  teaching  that  discovers  to  us  this  significance 
of  childhood. 

Saints  and  Sinners 

Not  Attainment,  but  Attitude. — We  can  see  now  how 

it  was  that  Jesus  so  astonished  the  people  of  his  day  by 
the  way  in  which  he  classified  men.  They  divided  men 
according  to  their  attainments,  Jesus  according  to  their 
attitude.  They  saw  the  respectability  and  strict  observance 
of  rules  in  the  Pharisees;  Jesus  saw  their  pride  and  self- 
satisfaction.  They  saw  the  sin  and  shame  of  publican  and 
harlot;  Jesus  saw  their  willingness  to  trust  and  obey.  It 
is  not  where  a  man  stands  that  counts,  but  the  direction  in 
which  he  is  facing.  The  Pharisees  looked  back  contented 
upon  their  achievements.  The  others,  out  of  their  sin  and 
shame,  were  looking  toward  God.  The  heart  of  the  Pharisee 
was  closed,  the  hearts  of  these  sinners  were  open. 


U  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

Very  clearly  does  Jesus  bring  out  this  difference  in  the 
parable  of  the  two  men  at  prayer  in  the  temple  (Luke  18. 
9-14).  The  Pharisee  saw  only  his  merit,  the  publican  only 
his  need.  There  was  no  question  as  to  the  Pharisee's  up- 
rightness or  the  publican's  evil  record.  But  the  door  of  that 
Pharisee's  life  was  shut  to  God  that  day,  and  the  door  of 
this  sinner's  heart  was  open.  And  "this  man  went  down 
to  his  house  justified  rather  than  the  other."  The  parable 
voices  only  what  was  made  plain  to  Jesus  by  his  own  ex- 
perience. He  saw  publicans  and  harlots,  to  his  surprise, 
crowding  into  the  Kingdom,  eagerly  taking  his  message, 
while  the  pillars  of  respectability  and  piety  were  unmoved. 

Directions  for  Study 

The  Scripture  passages:  Matthew  5.  1-12;  Mark  10.  13-16; 
Matthew  18.  1-4;   Luke  18.  9-14. 

Read  the  lesson  narrative,  looking  up  all  Scripture  passages. 

With  your  Bible  open  before  you,  try  to  get  Jesus'  teaching 
as  to  humility.  What  did  he  mean  by  this?  How  did  he  il- 
lustrate it  in  his  own  character  and  life?  Did  it  involve  weak- 
ness, or  the  highest  strength? 

Is  aspiration  usually  thought  of  as  a  virtue?  Why  is  it  so 
important  in  the  Christian  life?  Turn  again  to  Jesus'  life  for 
examples.  What  is  the  difference  between  Christian  aspiration 
and  selfish  ambition? 

What  is  the  difference  between  childlikeness  and  childish- 
ness? 

Chapter  IV  indicates  Jesus'  standard  and  ideal  of  goodness 
for  man.  In  this  chapter  we  see  what  it  was  that  determined 
for  him  whether  a  man  was  right,  or  justified.  State  briefly 
his  teaching  on  these  two  points. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

DEVOTION  AND  TEUST 

The  Church  has  long  emphasized  the  Christ  of  kindliness 
and  mercy  and  patience ;  there  is  danger  that  we  forget  the 
Jesus  of  stern  demand.  The  God  whom  Jesus  brought  to 
men  was  a  God  of  utter  goodness,  whose  love  knew  no 
measure,  who  gave  to  men  not  only  every  earthly  gift  but 
his  own  self  as  well.  But  just  because  he  gave  so  much, 
he  had  to  ask  much  in  return.  He  gave  men  the  highest, 
he  asked  from  them  the  utmost.  All  life,  all  love,  all  help 
he  gave;  in  return  he  demanded  perfect  trust  of  heart 
and  utter  devotion  of  will.  It  is  this  demand  of  Jesus  that 
we  now  consider. 

Jesus'  Geeat  Demand 

One  who  was  present  at  that  historic  moment,  tells  how 
the  defeated  but  undismayed  Garibaldi  made  his  appeal  to 
the  cheering  throng  that  crowded  about  him  in  the  Piazza 
of  Saint  Peter's.  "I  am  going  out  from  Rome,"  he  said. 
"Let  those  who  wish  to  continue  the  war  against  the 
stranger,  come  with  me.  I  offer  neither  pay,  nor  quarters, 
nor  provisions;  I  offer  hunger,  thirst,  forced  marches, 
battles,  and  death.  Let  him  who  loves  his  country  in  his 
heart  and  not  with  his  lips  only,  follow  me." 

The  Summons  of  Jesus. — It  was  some  such  summons  to 
devotion  that  Jesus  brought  to  his  disciples.  He  always 
put  before  men  a  sharp  "either,  or."  He  had  no  place  for 
half-hearted  men.  We  see  this  first  of  all  in  the  way  in 
which  he  called  his  disciples.  Follow  me,  he  says,  and  they 
leave  the  sea  and  their  nets  and  all  the  old  ways  forever 
(Mark  1.  16-20).  Matthew  10.  16-39  sets  forth  the  devo- 
tion demanded  of  the  disciple.  We  are  told  that  the  words 
were  spoken  by  Jesus  at  the  time  when  he  sent  forth  the 
twelve  upon  a  special  mission.  He  asks  of  them  absolute 
allegiance;  they  may  even  need  to  choose  him  over  against 

75 


76  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

brother  or  father  or  children.  He  holds  before  them  the 
prospect  of  persecution;  it  has  come  to  their  Master,  and 
why  should  the  servant  be  above  his  lord?  He  represents 
a  great  issue  which  knows  no  compromise;  "I  came  not  to 
send  peace,  but  a  sword."  Condemned  criminals  went  out 
to  the  place  of  execution  bearing  their  own  cross.  That 
cross  was  the  sign  to  every  one  that  their  lives  were  no 
longer  their  own.  So,  says  Jesus  to  his  disciples,  you  must 
follow  me  as  men  bearing  their  cross,  whose  lives  are  for- 
feited to  me.  As  the  end  of  Jesus'  life  drew  near,  his 
demand  was  even  sharper.  If  you  wish  to  follow  me,  he 
says  to  one,  remember  that  the  Son  of  man  has  not  even 
a  place  to  lay  his  head ;  while  he  rebukes  another  by  declar- 
ing that  there  is  no  room  in  the  Kingdom  for  men  who  put 
their  hand  to  the  plow  but  keep  looking  back  (Luke  9. 
57-62). 

The  Whole-Hearted  Choice. — It  is  true  that  most  of 
these  sayings  Avere  probably  spoken  to  the  smaller  group 
whom  he  had  asked  to  be  his  personal  companions;  but 
Jesus  makes  it  abundantly  plain  that  he  wants  this  same 
spirit  in  all  his  disciples.  The  Christian  life  is  a  great 
choice  and  it  must  be  made  whole-heartedly  and  absolutely. 
"No  man  can  serve  two  masters:  for  either  he  will  hate 
the  one,  and  love  the  other;  or  else  he  will  hold  to  one, 
and  despise  the  other."  "Seek  ye  first  his  kingdom  and 
his  righteousness."  "Enter  ye  in  by  the  narrow  gate:  for 
wide  is  the  gate,  and  broad  is  the  way,  that  leadeth  to 
destruction,  and  many  are  they  that  enter  in  thereby.  For 
narrow  is  the  gate,  and  straitened  the  way,  that  leadeth 
unto  life,  and  few  are  they  that  find  it." 

Jesus'  Emphasis  on  the  Will. — The  Christian  life  has  its 
different  aspects.  Eeligion  could  not  live  without  emotion. 
There  must  be  reverence,  which  the  Bible  sometimes  calls 
fear;  love  and  joy  and  peace  are  the  natural  fruitage  of 
this  experience.  Eeligion  engages  the  mind  of  man  as  well 
as  his  feelings;  it  is  not  blind  and  unthinking,  but  involves 
a  conception  of  God  and  a  definite  idea  of  the  meaning  of 
the  world  and  of  life.  But  it  is  not  in  thought  or  feeling 
that  Jesus  puts  the  final  test  of  a  religious  man;  rather 


DEVOTION  AND  TRUST  77 

it  is  in  the  will.  What  are  you  doing  ?  he  asks.  The  man 
that  will  rise  and  follow  him  is  his  disciple.  He  may  un- 
derstand very  little;  and  how  much  did  these  men  under- 
stand of  what  the  church  has  called  distinctive  Christian 
doctrines?  The  test  is  in  the  will.  The  last  part  of  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount  is  wholly  given  to  this  solemn  truth 
(Matthew  7.  15-27).  It  is  the  fruit  that  counts — what  a 
man  does.  "Not  every  one  that  saith  unto  me.  Lord,  Lord, 
shall  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven;  but  he  that  doeth 
the  will  of  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven/'  Who  is  the  wise 
man,  with  the  life  that  shall  endure  like  the  house  on  the 
rock?  It  is  the  man  "that  heareth  these  words  of  mine 
and  doeth  them.'' 

The  Sin  of  Indecision. — The  great  teachers  of  life  have 
been  one  with  Jesus  in  the  insistence  upon  decision  and 
devotion  of  character,  and  in  their  condemnation  of  indif- 
ference and  indecision.  In  a  passage  of  searching  power, 
Dante  describes  the  poor  wretches  whom  he  found  just 
outside  the  gates  of  hell,  the  souls  of  men  for  whom  heaven 
had  no  place  and  whom  not  hell  itself  would  receive. 

"This  miserable  fate 
Suffer  the  wretched  souls  of  those  who  lived 
Without  praise  or  blame,  with  that  ill  band 
Of  angels  mixed,  who  nor  rebellious  proved 
Nor  yet  were  true  to  God,  but  for  themselves 
Were  only." 

And  then  in  one  biting  phrase  he  stamps  their  whole  life : 
"These  wretches  who  ne'er  lived  went  on  in  nakedness." 

To  the  same  end  writes  Professor  Peabody,  in  Jesus 
Christ  and  the  Christian  Character:  "'The  first  step  toward 
safety  is  in  the  decision  to  proceed.  The  will  takes  up 
the  march,  and  the  mind  and  heart  follow.  Among  the 
obstacles  to  the  spiritual  life  on  which  Jesus  primarily 
dwells  is  the  sin  of  indecision:  ^He  that  is  not  with  me, 
is  against  me.  He  that  gathereth  not  with  me,  scattereth. 
No  man  can  serve  two  masters.'  Neutrality  is  iniquity. 
Pilate,  though  he  finds  no  fault  with  Jesus,  is  responsible 
for  his  fate.    On  which  side  ?  asks  Jesus." 


78  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

What  Is  This  Obedience  ? 

Is  It  Passive  or  Negative? — It  is  important,  however, 
that  we  understand  just  what  Jesus  means  by  this  obedi- 
ence, for  this  word  may  have  very  different  meanings.  With 
some  it  means  a  blind,  unquestioning,  unthinking  sur- 
render, so  that  the  man  becomes  a  merely  passive  tool  under 
a  higher  power.  Such,  for  example,  was  the  ideal  of 
obedience  held  up  by  Ignatius  Loyola,  founder  of  the  So- 
ciety of  Jesus  (the  Jesuits).  He  demanded  the  surrender 
not  only  of  will,  but  of  mind  as  well.  His  followers  were 
to  be  like  a  ball  of  wax  ready  to  be  molded  by  the  least 
touch,  like  a  dead  body  that  can  be  moved  at  will.  Others 
have  laid  stress  upon  the  negative  side,  the  idea  of  sur- 
render; for  them  obedience  means  giving  up.  Men  have 
felt  themselves  called  upon  to  give  up  property,  the  com- 
mon business  of  life,  home,  and  all  forms  of  pleasure  and 
even  of  comfort. 

Blind  Obedience. — In  all  this  is  a  fundamental  misun- 
derstanding of  Jesus.  First  of  all,  the  obedience  that  he 
wants  is  not  blind  and  unthinking;  it  is,  rather,  an  obedi- 
ence of  trust  resting  upon  personal  conviction.  He  wants 
an  absolute  obedience,  but  only  because  of  this  conviction. 
Trust  must  come  first,  and  he  asks  men  to  trust  because 
he  brings  to  them  such  a  God  as  our  Father.  He  does  not 
ask  us  to  shut  our  eyes  and  obey ;  he  wants  us  to  open  our 
eyes  and  obey.  Look  at  God !  All  power  belongs  to  him, 
and  all  goodness  too.  To  take  his  will  is  to  find  our  life, 
to  trust  him  is  to  gain  strength  to  live  that  life.  When 
man  sees  such  a  God  as  Jesus  shows,  then  obedience  is  not 
from  the  will  alone,  but  with  mind  and  heart  as  well. 

Passive  Obedience. — Further,  such  obedience  is  not  pas- 
sive. What  God  wants  is  not  a  dead  body,  but  a  living 
man.  The  Christian  life  is  not  giving  up,  but  taking  on. 
What  Jesus  does  is  to  give  a  man  a  worth-while  goal.  He 
asks  absolute  devotion,  but  only  because  he  offers  something 
high  enough  and  big  enough  to  command  and  to  fill  a  man's 
life.  The  "Follow  me"  of  Jesus  is  not  a  word  of  suppres- 
sion, it  is  a  call  to  high  ambition,  to  noblest  endeavor;  it 


DEVOTION  AND  TRUST  79 

is  a  challenge  such  as  can  come  only  by  offering  a  man  a 
great  end  for  his  life.  To  live  as  a  son  of  God,  to  fling  your 
life  into  the  world  for  the  sake  of  men,  to  help  bring  in 
God's  kingdom,  that  is  the  challenge. 

Living  Obedience. — Thus  it  comes  that  the  obedience 
which  Jesus  demands  is  really  a  gift  which  he  bestows;  it 
is  a  way  of  deliverance  and  life.  The  will  of  God  means 
the  way  by  which  we  come  to  the  highest  life.  The  disciple 
who  prays,  "^^Thy  will  be  done,"  should  say  the  words  not 
with  resignation  accepting  the  inevitable,  but  with  en- 
thusiasm as  the  goal  of  his  life  and  its  battle-cry.  In  that 
word  is  wrapped  up  the  highest  that  God  has  planned  for 
his  life,  and  for  the  world.  "Thy  will  be  done"  means 
the  same  as  "Thy  kingdom  come,''  and  the  kingdom  for 
Jesus  meant  the  fullest  life  and  the  highest  good. 

The  Way  to  Strength  and  Peace. — The  life  of  obedience, 
then,  means  a  life  of  resolution  and  decision,  and  such  a 
life  alone  brings  success  and  satisfaction.  The  "double- 
minded  man,  unstable  in  all  his  ways,"  is  the  object  of  pity 
if  not  of  scorn.  The  way  of  success  lies  with  whole-hearted 
decision.  "The  longer  I  live,"  says  one,  "the  more  certain 
I  am  that  the  great  difference  between  men,  the  feeble  and 
the  powerful,  the  great  and  the  insignificant,  is  energy  and 
invincible  determination."  The  undecided  life  or  the 
divided  life  always  means  weakness.  The  decision  which 
Jesus  demands  means  strength.  It  means  mastery  of  self, 
for  no  man  rules  himself  till  he  has  found  something 
higher  to  which  he  may  give  himself.  Such  a  high  end 
gives  unity  to  his  life.  It  enables  him  to  overcome  evil 
desires  and  passions.  It  unites  his  forces  and  multiplies 
his  strength.  And  because  it  is  a  high  and  worthy  end  it 
brings  him  unchanging  satisfaction  and  unfailing  peace. 

The  Life  of  Trust 

No  Obedience  Without  Trust. — The  life  of  trust  is  the 
other  side  of  the  life  of  obedience.  "Perfect  obedience 
would  be  perfect  happiness,"  some  one  has  written,  "if 
only  we  had  perfect  confidence  in  the  power  we  were  obey- 


80  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

ingJ'  Now,  it  is  just  these  two  things  that  Jesus  joins 
together.  He  asks  perfect  obedience  because  he  brings  One 
in  whom  men  may  have  perfect  confidence.  He  asks  a  man 
to  give  his  life  entirely  to  one  great  end,  and  then  he 
assures  the  man  that  so  obeys  that  all  his  life  is  under 
God's  care  and  that  this  high  end  will  be  achieved.  George 
McDonald  has  well  joined  these  two  thoughts  together 
when  he  says :  "This  is  a  healthy,  a  practical,  a  working 
faith.  First,  that  a  man's  business  is  to  do  the  will  of  God. 
Second,  that  God  takes  upon  himself  the  care  of  that  man. 
Third,  and  therefore,  that  a  man  ought  never  to  be  afraid 
of  anything." 

The  Confidence  of  Christ. — No  words  of  Jesus  are  more 
beautiful  than  those  in  which  he  pictures  the  j)eace  and 
joy  and  strength  that  belong  to  this  life  of  trust.  Such  was 
his  life.  Serene  and  unafraid,  he  takes  his  course.  There 
is  struggle,  it  is  true.  He  knows  the  dangers;  he  sees 
the  power  of  evil  and  the  coming  of  its  apparent  triumph. 
He  cries  out  in  the  agony  of  Gethsemane.  His  trust  is 
not  untried,  but  it  is  victorious.  And  the  way  of  quiet 
and  strength  which  he  points  out  to  others  is  the  way  that 
he  himseW  has  walked.  When  Jesus  offers  peace  to  men 
he  does  not  talk  of  a  beautiful  but  distant  ideal.  He  says : 
"My  peace  I  give  unto  you."  "Come  unto  me,  .  .  .  and 
I  will  give  you  rest." 

The  First  Condition,  a  Vision  of  God. — The  first  condi- 
tion of  this  life  of  trust,  according  to  Christ,  is  a  vision 
of  God.  It  was  his  own  deep  sense  of  God  that  gave  him 
this  confidence  and  peace.  Only  one  thing  could  cast  out 
the  fear  of  men,  and  that  was  the  fear  of  God.  Men  needed 
to  pray,  as  he  did,  "I  thank  thee,  0  Father,  Lord  of  heaven 
and  earth."  "Fear  them  not,  therefore,"  he  says  to  his 
disciples,  when  he  speaks  of  coming  danger.  "Be  not 
afraid  of  them  that  kill  the  body,  but  are  not  able  to  kill 
the  soul :  but  rather  fear  him  who  is  able  to  destroy  both 
soul  and  body  in  hell"  (Matthew  10.  26,  28).  Jesus  saw 
God's  power  in  all  things.  "Are  not  two  sparrows  sold 
for  a  penny  ?  and  not  one  of  them  shall  fall  on  the  ground 
without  your  Father."    Not  the  least  part  of  this  world's 


DEVOTION  AND  TEUST  81 

life  but  was  linked  to  God.  "Behold  the  birds  of  the 
heaven;  .  .  .  your  heavenly  Father  feedeth  them/'  "Con- 
sider the  lilies  of  the  field."  God  clothes  them  all  and  the 
grass  as  well.  To  these  timid,  troubled  men  God  was  far 
off;  evil  spirits,  the  threat  of  hunger  and  misfortune,  were 
near  and  real.  The  great  fact  for  Jesus  was  the  presence 
and  power  of  God  in  all  his  world.  And  men  needed  the 
vision  of  God's  love,  his  real  concern  for  each  humblest  life. 
"Ye  are  of  more  value  than  many  sparrows,"  Jesus  cried 
out  to  them.  "The  very  hairs  of  your  head  are  all  num- 
bered." "If  God  doth  so  clothe  the  grass  of  the  field,  which 
to-day  is,  and  to-morrow  is  cast  into  the  oven,  shall  he  not 
much  more  clothe  you,  0  ye  of  little  faith  ?" 

No  Trust  Without  Surrender. — We  have  seen  that  with- 
out trust  there  can  be  no  free  and  whole-hearted  obedience. 
Now  we  must  look  at  the  other  side:  without  obedience 
there  can  be  no  real  trust.  In  both  the  passages  which  we 
have  just  been  considering  (Matthew  6.  19-34;  10.  16-39) 
Jesus  joins  these  two  great  aspects  of  the  life  with  God, 
obedience  and  trust.  The  man  who  is  utterly  given  to  God 
need  never  be  afraid.  "Be  not  anxious  how  or  what  ye  shall 
speak :  for  it  shall  be  given  you."  "Fear  them  not."  "Be 
not  afraid."  "Every  one  who  shall  confess  me  before  men, 
him  will  I  also  confess  before  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven." 
But  the  man  who  would  trust  God  must  be  entirely  given 
to  him.  The  cure  for  worry  is  a  single  purpose.  The  root 
of  worry  is  a  divided  mind.  That  is  the  literal  meaning 
of  the  word  translated  "be  not  anxious"  in  the  Eevised 
Version.  Jesus  did  not  say,  "Take  no  thought."  Men  are 
to  take  thought;  Jesus  wants  men  of  earnest  purpose  and 
care.  The  mistake  lies  in  the  divided  purpose.  It  is  in 
trying  to  serve  two  masters,  believing  in  God  and  yet  being 
afraid  about  the  world,  loving  God  and  yet  concerned  about 
many  other  things.  To  all  this  Jesus  says :  "No  man  can 
serve  two  masters."  "Be  not  anxious  for  your  life."  "Seek 
ye  first  his  kingdom  and  his  righteousness;  and  all  these 
things  shall  be  added  unto  you." 

Devotion  and  Confidence. — This,  then,  is  the  Christian 
life  of  trust.    A  great  devotion  comes  first.    A  man  finds 


8^  THE  TEACHINaS  OF  JESUS 

the  real  end  of  his  life;  he  gives  himself  to  that  end  and 
he  knows  that  it  will  be  his  as  sure  as  God  is  God. 

"I  go  to  prove  my  soul! 
I  see  my  way  as  birds  their  trackless  way. 
I  shall  arrive!  what  time,  what  circuit  first, 
I  ask  not:  but  .    .    . 

In  some  time,  his  good  time,  I  shall  arrive: 
He  guides  me  and  the  bird." 

And  because  man  is  confident  of  the  great  end,  he  is  set 
free  from  the  worry  about  lesser  things  or  the  enslaving 
care  for  them. 

"I  know  not  what  the  future  hath 

Of  marvel  or  surprise, 
Assured  alone  that  life  and  death 

His  mercy  underlies. 
I  know  not  where  his  islands  lift 

Their  fronded  palms  in  air; 
I  only  know  I  cannot  drift 

Beyond  his  love  and  care." 

DiEECTioNs  roB  Study 

The  Scripture  passages:  Mark  1.  16-20;  Luke  9.  57-62;  Mat- 
thew 10.  16-39;  6.  19-34;  7.  21-27;  Luke  12.  4-7. 

After  reading  carefully  these  passages,  turn  again  in  thought 
to  the  life  of  Jesus  and  find  specific  illustrations  of  his  obedi- 
ence and  trust. 

Now  note  the  two  great  words  of  this  lesson.  The  first  is 
devotion,  or  obedience.  Just  how  much  did  Jesus  ask  of  men 
in  his  day?  How  much  of  that  applies  to  us  now?  Distinguish 
carefully  between  the  ideal  of  Jesus  of  a  positive  and  whole- 
hearted life,  and  what  many  people  mean  by  surrender  and 
submission. 

Consider  next  Jesus'  ideal  of  the  life  of  trust,  and  note  how 
obedience,  or  decision  of  life,  demands  trust,  and  then  how 
trust  can  come  only  with  obedience  or  devotion. 

How  far  is  it  true  that  the  great  men  of  action,  notable 
leaders,  have  been  men  of  faith  and  of  decision  of  character? 
Give  illustrations.    Why  is  this  true? 


CHAPTER  IX 

PEAYER 

Peayee  is  the  very  heart  of  religion.  All  that  we  have 
been  studying  of  Jesns'  conception  of  religion  appears  in 
his  teaching  about  prayer.  Here  is  the  spirit  of  aspiration, 
of  humility  and  dependence,  of  utter  devotion  and  simple 
trust;  and  finally  there  is  in  prayer  the  true  and  necessary 
expression  of  that  life  of  sonship  which  Jesus  set  forth 
as  the  one  true  life.  Upon  no  subject  did  Jesus  speak  more 
fully  and  definitely  than  upon  prayer,  and  to  his  words 
is  added  the  witness  of  his  own  life  in  which  prayer  played 
so  large  a  part. 

Jesus  Summon"ing  Men  to  Pkay 

Encouraging  Men  to  Pray. — Though  Jesus  spoke  often 
of  prayer,  here,  as  always,  his  aim  was  practical;  his  in- 
terest was  not  in  the  theory  of  prayer.  Prayer  was  the 
very  breath  of  his  own  life;  he  knew  the  peace,  the  joy, 
the  strength,  that  came  with  it.  He  saw  men  weak  where 
they  might  be  strong,  anxious  and  full  of  cares  where  they 
might  have  peace.  They  did  not  pray.  Some  of  them  went 
through  forms  of  prayer,  but  they  did  not  know  this  life 
of  trustful  fellowship  with  God.  And  so  that  became  his 
first  task,  to  encourage  men  to  pray.  "Ask,  and  it  shall  be 
given  you,"  he  calls  to  men ;  "seek,  and  ye  shall  find ;  knock, 
and  it  shall  be  opened  unto  you :  for  every  one  that  asketh 
receiveth;  and  he  that  seeketh  findeth;  and  to  him  that 
knocketh  it  shall  be  opened''  (Matthew  7.  7,  8).  This 
was  at  the  opening  of  his  ministr}^;  he  brought  the  same 
encouragement  to  his  disciples  in  the  last  days.  They  were 
in  the  midst  of  peril,  facing  an  uncertain  future  and  un- 
known tasks.    If  they  could  only  have  the  strength  of  his 

83 


84  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

own  confidence  in  God  nothing  would  be  impossible.  Have 
faith  in  God,  he  cries  to  them;  there's  not  a  mountain  in 
your  way  that  will  not  yield,  if  you  only  ask  of  God  and 
trust  in  God.  Even  faith  like  a  tiny  grain  of  mustard 
seed  will  do  that  (Mark  11.  22-24). 

Prayer  and  Trust. — That  is  the  first  need,  not  forms  of 
prayer,  not  a  doctrine  of  prayer,  but  simply  that  men  shall 
pray.  But  such  praying  as  Jesus  means  can  come  only  on 
one  condition :  there  must  be  trust  in  God.  It  is  that  trust, 
therefore,  that  Jesus  tries  to  awaken.  Men  did  not  pray, 
because  God  seemed  far  away,  and  they  thought  he  did  not 
care.  First  of  all  he  taught  them  to  say,  ^'Father."  It 
was  not  the  common  Jewish  use  to  speak  thus  to  God.  God 
was  King  and  Lord  and  Euler  rather  than  Father.  Not 
once  is  that  name  used  in  address  to  God  in  the  Psalms. 
But  he  who  uses  that  name  from  his  heart  has  already 
offered  his  prayer.  That  name  holds  the  confidence  that 
God  is  near  and  that  he  knows  us  each  one  and  that  he 
loves  us.  He  who  can  say  "Father"  with  his  heart  has 
already  won  strength  and  peace.  "When  we  pray  say. 
Father^'  (Luke  11.  2).  "Be  not  therefore  anxious,  say- 
ing. What  shall  we  eat?  or,  What  shall  we  drink?  or. 
Wherewithal  shall  we  be  clothed?  .  .  .  Your  heavenly 
Father  knoweth  that  ye  have  need  of  all  these  things" 
(Matthew  6.  31,  32).  And  then  Jesus  appeals,  as  so  often, 
to  their  own  experience.  When  your  children  ask  for  bread, 
do  you  give  them  a  stone?  Do  you  give  them  a  serpent, 
when  they  ask  for  a  fish  ?  And  yet  you  are  but  men,  evil  as 
compared  with  God.  Shall  not  then  your  Father,  who  is 
all  goodness  and  perfect  love,  give  good  things  to  those 
that  ask  them?  (Matthew  7.  9-11). 

The  Nature  of  Prayer 

ratherhood  and  Prayer. — This  vision  of  God  is  not  only 
our  ground  for  prayer,  but  it  is  our  guide  in  learning  how 
to  pray.  It  tells  us  first  of  all  what  prayer  is.  Praj^er  is 
talking  with  God;  it  is  fellowship  coming  to  speech.  Not 
all  prayer  is  that;  there  is  prayer  which  is  only  a  device 


PEAYER  85 

for  getting  things  from  God.  But  that  is  what  Christian 
prayer  is,  and  it  cannot  be  other  than  that,  since  fellow- 
ship is  the  law  of  the  Christian  life.  This  follows  neces- 
sarily from  Jesus'  thought  of  Father  and  sonship;  the 
Christian  life  is  simply  living  with  the  Father  the  life  of 
a  son.  Such  a  life  must  come  to  expression,  and  all  such 
expression  is  prayer.  Prayer,  then,  is  something  far 
broader  than  mere  asking  for  things.  We  are  likely  to  miss, 
the  right  way  if  we  begin,  as  is  so  often  done,  with  the  ques- 
tion. What  may  we  ask  for  and  how? 

Pagan  Prayer  or  Christian  Trust? — We  have  already 
seen  that  into  this  fellowship  with  God,  according  to  Jesus, 
there  must  enter  desire,  devotion,  and  trust;  and  all  these 
belong  to  Christian  prayer.  It  is  in  the  lack  of  these  that 
pagan  prayer  shows  itself,  and  those  remnants  of  pagan- 
ism that  we  find  sometimes  in  ourselves.  It  is  paganism, 
for  example,  to  think  that  God  must  first  be  cajoled  or 
persuaded  or  wearied  with  our  persistence  before  he  will 
answer.  Here  belong  the  empty  repetitions  of  which  Jesus 
speaks,  where  men  think  they  shall  be  heard  for  their  much 
speaking.  Over  against  this  stands  Christian  trust.  It 
begins  with  the  assurance  that  God  knows  and  that  God 
cares;  indeed,  that  he  is  eager  to  give  us  his  good  gifts. 
And  it  ends  all  prayer  by  gladly  leaving  every  care  and 
desire  with  the  Father. 

Devotion  and  Prayer. — Just  as  fundamental  in  Christian 
prayer  is  the  spirit  of  devotion,  or  of  utter  surrender  to 
God.  If  we  put  this  first  in  life,  as  Jesus  did,  then  it  must 
underlie  and  condition  all  our  praying.  Here  comes  again 
the  distinction  between  Christian  prayer  and  pagan  prayer. 
Pagan  prayer  seeks  to  bring  God  to  its  will;  Christian 
prayer  seeks  to  come  to  God's  will.  In  Christian  prayer 
we  may  ask  for  many  things;  but  the  end  of  that  prayer 
will  always  be,  ^Thy  will  be  done."  But  that  is  not  all. 
"Thy  will  be  done"  does  not  simply  come  at  the  end  to 
qualify;  it  stands  at  the  beginning  as  the  expression  of 
our  supreme  desire.  That  is  our  first  petition :  "Thy  king- 
dom come,  thy  will  be  done."  We  do  not  say  it  grudgingly, 
as  those  who  yield  at  last  after  having  beaten  out  our 


86  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

strength,  like  some  captive  bird,  against  the  iron  bars  of 
hard  necessity;  we  say  it  with  joy  and  confidence  that 
spring  from  Christian  trust.  The  will  of  God  is  not  the 
hard  demand,  it  is  the  great  gift.  It  is  the  highest  good 
that  can  come  to  us.  Back  of  it  are  the  wisdom  and  infinite 
love  of  God.  Eagerly  and  longingly  we  bring  our  own  de- 
sires; but  when  we  have  waited  in  the  presence  of  God's 
love  we  end  by  saying,  "Thy  will  be  done.''  As  we  grow 
in  Christ's  spirit,  that  comes  more  and  more  to  the  front, 
until  at  last  the  prayer  that  Christ  taught  becomes  the 
supreme  desire  for  our  own  life  and  for  the  world:  "Thy 
kingdom  come,  thy  will  be  done."  In  that  prayer,  we  come 
to  see,  lie  the  purpose  of  God's  love  and  the  hope  of  the 
world. 

Prayer  and  Desire. — The  thought  of  devotion  has  al- 
ready brought  us  to  the  thought  of  desire.  Prayer  springs 
from  man's  need;  it  is  the  want  of  man  that  drives  him  to 
the  feet  of  God.  The  broadest  meaning  of  prayer  is  fel- 
lowship with  the  Divine,  but  within  that  fellowship  there 
is  always  desire.  It  may  be  material  and  even  selfish :  the 
prayer  for  harvests,  for  health,  for  vengeance  upon  one's 
foes;  or  it  may  be  the  noble  prayer  of  a  Paul,  ready  to  be 
accursed  himself  if  only  Israel  might  be  saved.  Christian 
prayer  is  not  the  giving  up  of  desire,  but  only  its  trans- 
formation. We  may  ask  for  too  many  things,  we  never 
ask  for  too  much.  It  is  rather  more  desire  that  we  need, 
not  less,  higher  aspirations  for  ourselves  and  larger  prayers 
for  others.  Jesus'  words  of  Matthew  7.  7,  8  are  like  an- 
other beatitude,  a  blessing  on  those  that  ask;  they  belong 
indeed  beside  that  fourth  beatitude :  "Blessed  are  they  that 
hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness:  for  they  shall  be 
filled." 

The  Praying  of  Jesus. — There  is  no  study  of  prayer  that 
is  more  suggestive  than  the  study  of  the  praying  of  Jesus. 
Prayer  was  no  incident  for  him,  but  a  deep  and  constant 
need.  The  great  epochs  or  crises  of  his  life  are  marked  by 
special  prayer.  He  prays  at  his  baptism  and  ere  he  begins 
his  work  (Luke  3.  21;  5.  16).  He  prays  before  choosing 
the  twelve,  before  the  announcement  of  his  Messiahship, 


PRAYER  87 

and  before  he  turns  toward  the  last  journey  the  goal  of 
which  was  the  cross  (Luke  6.  12;  9.  18;  9.  28).  His  last 
night  on  earth  was  a  night  spent  in  prayer,  while  his  com- 
panions slept  in  exhaustion  (Mark  14.  32).  But  quite 
aside  from  such  special  occasions,  prayer  seems  to  have 
been  the  constant  atmosphere  of  his  life.  It  is  easy  for 
him  at  any  time  to  lift  his  heart  to  God  (Matthew  11.  25). 

Paul  Sabatier  on  Prayer. — Sabatier  well  expresses  this 
idea  of  prayer  in  his  life  of  Saint  Francis  of  Assisi.  "To 
pray  is  to  talk  with  God,  to  lift  ourselves  up  to  him,  to 
converse  with  him  that  he  may  come  down  to  us.  It  is  an 
act  of  meditation,  of  reflection,  which  presupposes  the  effort 
of  all  that  is  most  personal  in  us.  Looked  at  in  this  sense, 
prayer  is  the  mother  of  all  liberty  and  freedom. 

"With  Saint  Francis,  as  with  Jesus,  prayer  has  this 
character  of  effort  which  makes  of  it  the  greatest  moral  act. 
.  .  .  For  him,  as  for  his  Master,  the  end  of  prayer  is 
communion  with  the  heavenly  Father,  the  accord  of  the 
divine  with  the  human ;  or,  rather,  it  is  man  who  puts  forth 
his  strength  to  do  the  work  of  God,  not  saying  to  him  a 
mere  passive,  resigned,  powerless,  ^Thy  will  be  done,^  but 
courageously  raising  his  head:  *^Behold  me.  Lord,  I  de- 
light to  do  thy  will.' 

"But  it  is  not  without  difficulty  that  the  soul  unites  it- 
self to  God,  or,  if  one  prefers,  that  it  finds  itself.  A  prayer 
ends  at  last  in  divine  communion  only  when  it  began  by 
a  struggle.  The  patriarch  of  Israel  had  already  divined 
this:  The  God  who  passes  by  tells  his  name  only  to  those 
who  stop  him  and  do  him  violence  to  learn  it.  He  learns 
Only  after  long  hours  of  conflict.^' 

What  to  Pray  For,  and  How 

The  Prayer  of  Faith. — And  now  we  are  ready  for  the 
question :  What  may  we  ask  for,  and  what  may  we  expect  ? 
The  words  of  Jesus  seem  absolute  and  without  condition : 
"Ask,  and  ye  shaU  receive.  All  things  whatsoever  ye  pray 
and  ask  for,  believe  that  ye  receive  them,  and  ye  shall  have 
them''  (Matthew  7.  7;  Mark  11.  24).    Let  us  recall  first 


88  THE  TEACHINGS  OP  JESUS 

the  method  of  Jesus'  teaching,  remembering  that  he  was 
not  a  theologian  with  exact  definitions,  but  a  preacher  try- 
ing to  stir  men  to  life.  We  shall  see  the  need,  then,  of 
taking  Jesus'  teachings  as  a  whole.  We  find  first  that  Jesus 
demands  faith.  Faith,  we  have  seen,  means  more  with 
Jesus  than  believing,  or  taking  things  as  true;  it  is  a 
personal  trust  and  surrender.  Its  object  is  alwa3^s  God. 
But  faith  in  God  is  very  different  from  faith  in  our  prayers. 
Faith  in  one's  prayers  is  pagan;  it  looks  upon  prayer  as  a 
means  of  compelling  God.  Faith  in  God  is  Christian.  But 
such  faith  does  not  insist  upon  its  petition.  If  we  really 
trust  God  we  shall  want  his  will  rather  than  our  wish 
(see  Luke  22.  42;  2  Corinthians  12.  7-10). 

In  Jesus'  Name. — The  spirit  of  forgiveness  is  another 
condition  in  j^raying,  especially  in  obtaining  the  forgiveness 
of  our  sins  (Matthew  6.  12-15:  Mark  11.  25).  That  fol- 
lows of  necessity.  Forgiveness  means  being  received  into 
fellowship  by  God;  but  an  unforgiving  spirit  makes  such 
a  fellowship  impossible.  And  this  brings  us  to  the  main 
point.  It  is  Christian  prayer  we  are  talking  about,  the 
prayer  of  a  child  of  God;  and  it  is  to  his  disciples  that 
Jesus  holds  forth  these  promises.  Such  prayer  must  be  in 
the  spirit  of  Christ.  It  is  this  truth  that  is  brought  out 
in  the  fourth  Gospel  where  the  promise  is  made  to  those 
who  ask  in  Christ's  name  (John  14.  13,  14;  15.  16;  16. 
23,  24,  26).  Now,  "in  Jesus'  name"  is  not  a  magical  phrase 
by  which  we  compel  an  answer;  it  means  asking  in  the 
spirit  of  Christ,  which  is  the  spirit  of  devotion  to  God's 
will  (Luke  22.  42).  Thus  praying,  there  is  no  interest 
that  we  may  not  bring  to  God:  business,  health,  family, 
future,  all.  A  father  will  be  interested  in  everything  that 
belongs  to  his  child. 

Does  Jesus  Teach  Importunity  ? 

Two  Parables. — There  are  two  parables  of  Jesus  which 
have  usually  been  interpreted  in  a  way  that  does  not  agree 
with  what  has  been  said  so  far.  The  first  is  the  parable 
of  the  unwilling  friend    (Luke  11.   5-13).     Roused  one 


PRAYER  89 

night  at  midnight,  a  man  heard  a  persistent  calling  at  his 
door.  It  was  a  friend  of  his  who  declared  that  he  must 
have  some  bread  for  unexpected  guests.  That  was  going 
a  little  too  far,  even  for  a  friend,  and  the  man  at  first  re- 
fused. But  the  petitioner  kept  up  his  noise  and  what  the 
man  within  would  not  do  for  friendship's  sake,  he  did  at 
last  just  to  get  quiet  and  sleep  again.  The  second  parable 
is  that  of  the  unjust  judge  (Luke  18.  1-8).  Here  was  a 
man  that  had  neither  fear  of  God  nor  regard  for  what  men 
said.  What  difference,  then,  did  it  make  to  him  that  a 
certain  poor  widow  was  in  distress  and  wanted  her  case 
adjudicated.  But  his  own  comfort  did  concern  him,  and 
so  he  secured  justice  for  her  at  last  simply  because  her 
persistence  had  made  life  a  burden  to  him.  Are  we  not 
taught  here,  it  is  said,  the  need  of  importunity  in  prayer, 
the  fact  that  God  will  grant  men  their  requests  if  they  are 
but  persistent  ? 

Wrong  Meanings  and  Right. — This  interpretation,  how- 
ever, will  not  stand  scrutiny,  for  it  involves  a  comparing 
of  God  with  the  unwilling  friend  and  the  unjust  judge.  Is 
God's  love  so  straitened  that  it  needs  our  importunity  to 
secure  an  answer  ?  Or  must  our  importunity  persuade  God 
to  do  what  is  right?  The  real  argument  of  Jesus  is  quite 
simple  and  it  points  just  the  other  way.  You  men  lack 
in  faith  and  fail  to  pray,  Jesus  would  say,  because  you 
do  not  thoroughly  believe  that  God  will  answer.  But  look 
about  you.  Even  men  that  are  not  good  yield  to  men's 
entreaties,  like  this  unjust  judge  or  this  man  so  provoked 
at  ha^dng  his  whole  household  disturbed  at  midnight.  If 
such  imperfect  and  even  wicked  men  will  grant  what  others 
ask,  will  not  your  Father,  who  is  all  goodness  and  love, 
give  what  his  children  cry  for?  Like  the  reference  to 
earthly  fathers  and  their  children,  there  is  here  a  fine  en- 
couragement to  trust  in  God  and  to  pray. 

The  Lord's  Prayer 

The  Perfect  Prayer. — In  simple  but  beautiful  form  the 
Lord's  Prayer  sets  forth  concretely  the  idea  of  Jesus.    Brief 


90  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

though  it  is,  this  prayer  covers  the  great  needs  of  man. 
Here  all  selfishness  and  anxiety  have  disappeared,  and  in- 
stead is  an  atmosphere  of  reverent  trust  and  perfect  peace. 
Comparing  Matthew  6.  9-13  with  Luke  11.  2-4,  we  note 
considerable  difference  in  the  two  forms  in  which  the 
prayer  has  come  down  to  us.  We  note  also  that  the  Ee- 
vised  Version  omits  the  words  "thine  is  the  kingdom,"  etc. 
It  will  be  seen,  however,  that  the  two  accounts  agree  in  the 
most  important  portions. 

What  It  Contains. — The  opening  words  recognize  both 
the  love  and  the  holiness  of  God.  The  word  Father  speaks 
of  God's  love  and  man's  trust;  "hallowed  be  thy  name"  is 
not  so  much  a  petition  as  a  word  of  reverence  and  adora- 
tion. And  so  the  prayer  begins,  as  every  prayer  should, 
with  the  confident  heart  and  the  bowed  soul.  The  first  two 
petitions  mean  the  same;  "thy  will  be  done"  is  but  an 
explanation  of  "thy  kingdom  come."  The  great  surrender 
to  God  comes  before  a  single  personal  request  is  raised; 
and  yet  it  is  far  more  than  passive  surrender,  for  here  is 
the  highest  good  of  him  who  prays  and  the  great  goal  for 
all  life.  Now  follow  three  detailed  petitions,  which  be- 
long together.  These,  too,  are  not  mere  petitions;  they 
are  at  the  same  time  a  glad  confession  of  dependence  and 
a  humble  acknowledgment  of  thanks.  The  simple  words 
cover  by  suggestion  the  whole  of  life.  The  daily  bread 
represents  all  material  interests.  Jesus  draws  no  line  to 
separate  material  from  spiritual;  the  whole  life  belongs  to 
God,  and  God  cares  for  the  whole  life.  "Forgive  us"  stands 
for  all  spiritual  gifts  and  interests;  for  forgiveness  with 
Jesus  means  the  whole  grace  and  mercy  of  God  coming  into 
a  man's  life.  Looking  back,  a  man  asks  for  pardon ;  look- 
ing forward,  there  comes  the  desire  to  be  freed  from  sin. 
And  so  the  man  asks  for  guidance,  that  he  may  not  be 
tempted  beyond  strength,  and  for  deliverance  when  the 
temptation  comes:  "Lead  us  not  into  temptation,  but  de- 
liver." In  all  this  prayer  there  is  nothing  selfish  and  noth- 
ing particularistic.  It  is  as  high  as  heaven,  for  it  puts 
God's  rule  first;  it  is  as  broad  as  human  kind,  for  it  says 
"our,"  not  "mine." 


PEAYER  91 


Directions  for  Study 

The  Scripture  passages:  Matthew  6.  5-15;  7.  7-11;  Mark  11. 
22-25;  Luke  11.  5-13;   18.  1-8. 

After  reading  these  passages,  write  down  in  order  all  the 
references  to  prayer  in  the  life  of  Jesus  that  you  can  recall. 
Where  does  Jesus  speak  of  praying  for  others?  Where  do 
we  read  of  his  giving  thanks? 

Study  each  section  of  the  preceding  discussion,  having  in 
mind,  first,  the  Scripture  passages  just  read;  second,  the  life 
of  Jesus  as  giving  illustration  of  these  truths. 

This  lesson  is  full  of  practical  help.  Ask  yourself  what  this 
study  should  mean  for  your  own  life. 

Show  how  Jesus'  conception  of  God  as  Father  determines 
each  point  in  this  teaching  on  prayer:  the  encouragement  to 
pray,  the  nature  of  prayer,  what  to  ask  for  and  how. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  LAW  OF  BEOTHERHOOD 

The  faith  and  life  of  Jesus  had  but  one  source,  and  that 
was  God.  From  that  same  source  there  flows  all  his  teach- 
ing. When  he  has  told  us  that  God  is  Father,  he  has  given 
us  his  whole  message;  it  remains  only  for  us  to  see  what 
that  means  for  various  questions  of  life  and  faith.  Because 
God  is  Father,  men  dare  to  call  themselves  sons.  Because 
he  is  Father,  we  venture  to  trust  and  to  lift  up  hearts  in 
prayer.  Because  he  is  Father,  we  must  repent  of  unlov- 
ing and  disobedient  lives  and  turn  with  entire  surrender 
to  him.  We  have  been  studying  how  men  are  to  live  with 
such  a  Father;  now  we  are  to  consider  how  men  who  be- 
lieve in  such  a  Father  are  to  live  with  their  fellow  men. 
This  life  with  men  will  form  the  theme  of  the  next  five 
lessons. 

The  Supreme  Rule  of  Life 

Summaries  of  the  Law. — The  search  for  a  rule  of  life  is 
one  of  the  great  human  quests.  We  are  all  asking,  "What 
must  I  do  ?"  For  the  Jews  of  Jesus'  day,  the  rule  of  life 
consisted  of  the  commandments  contained  in  the  books  of 
the  law,  together  with  the  numberless  rules  that  had  been 
based  on  these  by  the  scribes.  In  that  day,  as  in  this,  men 
tried  to  sum  up  these  demands  in  one  single  rule.  On  two 
different  occasions  Jesus  thus  summed  up  the  teaching 
of  the  Old  Testament.  In  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  he 
said,  "All  things  therefore  whatsoever  ye  would  that  men 
should  do  unto  you,  even  so  do  ye  also  unto  them :  for  this 
is  the  law  and  the  prophets"  (Matthew  7.  12).  Near  the 
close  of  his  ministry,  answering  a  scribe,  he  said:  "Thou 
shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with 

92 


THE  LAW  OF  BROTHEEHOOD  93 

all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind.  This  is  the  great  and 
first  commandment.  And  a  second  like  unto  it  is  this, 
Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.  On  these  two 
commandments  the  whole  law  hangeth,  and  the  prophets" 
(Matthew  22.  35-40). 

The  Rule  of  Sonship. — In  both  these  instances,  how- 
ever, Jesus  is  looking  backward  and  summing  up  the  law. 
When  he  gives  his  own  rule  of  life,  it  goes  beyond  even 
these  high  maxims.  He  gives  it  at  the  close  of  the  fifth 
chapter  of  Matthew,  in  which  he  has  been  setting  forth 
the  higher  righteousness:  "that  ye  may  be  sons  of  your 
Father."  Nothing  could  be  simpler  than  this :  We  are  to 
be  like  our  Father.  Nothing  could  be  more  searching  than 
this,  for  it  goes  to  the  inner  spirit  of  a  man's  life.  And 
nothing  could  be  broader  than  this,  for  it  takes  in  every 
part  of  life.  Here  is  the  highest  standard  that  can  be  set 
for  life;  not  God's  commands,  but  God's  own  self.  Jesus 
pictures  the  loving  and  pure  spirit  of  God  and  then  says 
to  us,  "That  is  to  be  the  rule  of  your  life." 

The  Unforgiving  Brother. — In  two  striking  passages 
Jesus  set  this  forth.  The  first  might  be  called  the  parable  of 
the  unforgiving  brother  (Luke  15.  25-32).  It  is  a  pendant 
to  the  story  of  the  forgiving  father,  which  we  commonly  call 
the  parable  of  the  prodigal  son.  In  this  latter  parable 
Jesus  had  defended  his  own  treatment  of  sinners  by  set- 
ting forth  the  spirit  of  God:  God  is  like  the  forgiving 
father,  not  asking  what  his  son  has  deserved  at  his  hands, 
but  only  what  he  might  do  for  him  now  that  he  was 
found.  Within  the  house  all  had  joined  with  the  father 
in  his  rejoicing.  But  outside  stands  the  older  brother,  just 
come  from  the  field,  angry  and  jealous.  It  was  not  fair, 
he  protested.  He  had  worked  all  these  years,  and  Ms  father 
had  never  given  him  so  much  as  a  kid  that  he  might  have 
a  feast  with  his  friends.  And  this  tramp,  this  reprobate, 
was  having  a  fatted  calf. 

The  Unfilial  Spirit. — The  two  parables  are  opposite  sides 
of  the  same  shield,  and  they  point  to  the  same  lesson.  In 
both  of  them  Jesus  is  rebuking  the  unbrotherly  spirit  of 
the  Pharisees.    In  the  former  he  confutes  them  with  the 


94  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

picture  of  the  Fa  therms  mercy ;  in  the  latter  he  shames  them 
by  showing  their  own  likeness  in  the  elder  brother.  The 
elder  brother  makes  plain  what  the  sons  of  the  Father 
should  not  be.  The  Father's  rule  is  mercy,  the  elder 
brother  talks  of  justice.  The  Father  thinks  only  of  the 
boy,  the  elder  brother  only  of  himself.  All  the  hard, 
critical,  self-centered  spirit  is  here.  He  does  not  say,  "My 
brother,^'  but  "Thy  son.-''  He  drags  out  the  details  of  his 
brother^s  shame,  "who  hath  devoured  thy  living  with  har- 
lots.'' He  is  as  little  filial  in  spirit  as  he  is  fraternal;  he 
looks  upon  his  father  as  a  kind  of  taskmaster  (verse  29). 
When  he  thinks  of  a  possible  good  time  it  is  "with  my 
friends,"  not  with  his  father. 

The  Spirit  of  the  True  Brother. — The  other  passage  is 
in  Matthew  5.  43-48.  These  closing  verses  of  the  fifth  chap- 
ter of  Matthew  deserve  to  stand  beside  the  opening  verses 
of  the  chapter,  the  Beatitudes.  Here  is  the  heart  of  Jesus' 
teaching  about  the  true  life  of  man.  The  spirit  of  open- 
ness toward  God,  of  humility  and  devotion  and  desire,  that 
is  the  picture  of  the  Beatitudes.  The  spirit  of  utter  good 
will  toward  men,  tliat  is  the  message  of  the  closing  verses. 
And  these  t^^o  are  one,  humility  and  unselfish  good  will. 
One  of  them  is  love  turned  toward  God,  the  other  is  love 
turned  toward  men.  In  these  last  verses  Jesus  shows  that 
this  good  will  is  the  spirit  of  God.  God  sees  a  world  in 
which  many  of  his  children  are  selfish,  forgetful  of  his 
love,  hard  toward  their  brethren.  But  his  good  gifts  go 
to  the  evil  as  to  the  good;  the  sun  that  gives  life,  the  rain 
that  waters  the  earth,  are  for  all  alike.  And  we  are  to  be 
his  children,  we  are  to  be  like  that.  Here,  then,  is  the 
rule  of  life:  sonship,  to  be  a  brother  to  men  in  the  spirit 
of  the  Father. 

The  Scope  of  Bkotherhood 

Not  a  Relation  of  Give  and  Get. — What  this  rule  of 
brotherhood  means  in  detail  we  shall  consider  in  the  fol- 
lowing chapters  which  treat  of  reverence  and  good  will  and 
service.    We  must  ask  next  as  to  the  scope  of  brotherhood. 


THE  LAW  OF  BROTHEEHOOD  95 

Jesus^  hearers  did  not  need  to  be  told  what  brotherliness 
was ;  the  trouble  lay  not  in  the  fact,  but  in  the  extent.  Men 
limited  the  practice  of  brotherhood  then  just  about  as  they 
do  now,  and  Jesus  points  out  these  Kmitations.  We  love, 
first  of  all,  those  that  love  us.  We  love  our  friends.  We 
send  gifts  at  Christmas  to  those  who  send  gifts  to  us,  and 
change  the  day  of  God's  good  will  into  an  anxious  season 
of  buying  and  trading.  That  is  not  brotherhood;  that  is 
simply  the  old  rule  of  give  and  take.  Brotherhood  means 
grace,  it  means  giving  where  you  do  not  get  (Matthew  5. 
38-42). 

Beyond  Class  and  Race. — In  the  second  place,  men  limit 
brotherhood  to  their  circle  or  society,  their  church  or  com- 
munity, their  race  or  nation.  They  "salute  their  brethren 
only.'''  A  downtown  church  moves  out  "because  there  are 
no  people  left.''  As  a  matter  of  fact,  there  are  more  peo- 
ple than  before  in  the  fine  old  houses  that  have  been 
changed  to  tenements,  only  they  are  not  "our  kind."  But 
there  is  only  one  kind  according  to  Jesus'  teaching,  and 
that  is  the  Father's  cliildren.  The  man  who  disowns  any 
of  the  Father's  children  is  really  cutting  himself  off  from 
the  Father,  and  going  out  of  the  Father's  house.  Christian 
missions  are  a  great  proclamation  of  brotherhood.  In  no 
land  has  the  Christian  Church  a  better  chance  for  "brother- 
ing"  than  here  in  America,  where  all  the  nations  are 
gathered  together.  But  such  brothering  must  be  more 
than  vague  sentiment.  A  good  way  to  brother  a  man  is  to 
look  out  for  the  brother's  children  and  count  them  as  ours. 
Are  we  showing  brotherhood  to  the  children  of  our  com- 
munity ?  That  means  not  merely  the  children  of  our  Sun- 
day school,  but  the  little  Eussian,  Jewish,  and  Italian  chil- 
dren. Do  we  care  how  they  are  fed  and  housed,  whether 
they  have  the  chance  at  wholesome  play,  and  whether  their 
fathers,  our  brothers,  are  paid  a  living  wage  ? 

Fellowship  in  the  Cheistian  Chuech 

The  Community  of  Christ's  Followers. — But  brotherhood 
is  not  simply  a  spirit  that  we  are  to  show  toward  others; 


96  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

it  is  a  life  of  fellowship  that  we  live  together.  We  have 
already  seen  that  while  God  is  fatherly  toward  all,  not 
all  men  live  with  him  as  sons.  In  the  same  way,  though 
we  are  to  be  brotherly  toward  all  men,  not  all  men  will 
live  with  us  as  brothers.  Where  men  do  live  together  in 
that  way,  we  have  a  new  and  higher  kind  of  brotherhood, 
a  true  fellowship.  That  is  the  final  purpose  of  God,  to 
bring  all  his  children  together  in  such  a  fellowship,  or 
world-family.  Ideally,  that  is  what  the  church  is  to-day, 
a  fellowship  or  community  of  all  who  are  trying  to  live 
as  God's  children  after  the  spirit  of  Christ. 

If  we  ask  for  Jesus'  teaching  concerning  this  fellowship, 
we  find  we  have  scarcely  anything  bearing  directly  upon 
it.  The  Gospels  give  us  nowhere  any  precept  from  Jesus 
as  to  the  duty  of  organizing  a  church,  or  directions  as  to 
how  this  shall  be  done.  Nor  do  the  beginnings  of  the 
church  at  Jerusalem  imply  this.  The  disciples  apparently 
still  consider  themselves  a  part  of  the  Jewish  Church, 
though  they  assemble  themselves  together,  as  would  be  ex- 
pected, and  look  to  the  twelve  for  guidance  and  leader- 
ship. 

The  First  Fellowship. — All  this,  however,  need  not  sur- 
prise us.  Here  too  Jesus  came  to  give  life  and  not  rules, 
and  it  takes  but  little  study  of  the  life  that  Jesus  came  to 
bring  to  show  that  fellowship  has  been  from  the  beginning 
an  essential  part  of  it.  That  appeared  first  of  all  in  the 
fellowship  of  Jesus  and  his  disciples.  There  never  was  a 
simpler  fellowship  than  this,  for  there  was  no  test  of 
creed,  no  rules  to  which  to  subscribe,  no  long  novitiate. 
There  was  only  one  test,  the  willingness  to  follow  Jesus. 
But  that  fellowship  had  in  it  the  essentials  of  a  religious 
communion.  Jesus  had  called  these  men,  "that  they  might 
be  with  him,  and  that  he  might  send  them  forth."  Here 
was  fellowship  of  life  and  fellowship  of  service,  and  that 
includes  it  all. 

The  Church  Based  on  Spirit,  Not  Law. — What  operated 
in  that  first  instance  has  operated  ever  since.  If  every 
church  building  were  razed  to  the  ground  to-morrow  and 
every  Christian  communion  disbanded,  it  would  not  be  a 


THE  LAW  OF  BROTHERHOOD  97 

week  before  groups  of  Christian  people  all  over  the  world 
would  come  together  for  fellowship  in  worship  and  for 
common  service.  Jesus  gave  neither  commandment  nor 
direction  as  to  organizing  the  church,  but  he  did  three 
things.  He  organized  the  first  fellowship,  a  little  group 
of  men  and  women  which  came  together  again  after  his 
resurrection  and  formed  the  nucleus  of  the  church.  Second, 
he  set  forth  an  ideal  of  religion  which  could  be  practiced 
only  in  fellowship  with  men,  for  it  demanded  good  will,  for- 
bearance, helpfulness,  service.  And,  finally,  he  gave  men 
a  common  spirit  of  love  and  devotion  which  has  drawn  his 
followers  together  with  a  pull  as  sure  and  strong  as  that 
which  holds  the  stars  above.  Fellowship  is  at  the  very 
heart  of  Christianity.  It  rests  on  no  uncertain  command- 
ment, but  upon  an  abiding  spirit.  'No  danger  or  persecu- 
tion has  ever  been  able  to  break  this  bond. 

The  Fellowship  of  Christ  and  the  Visible  Church. — 
Jesus  declared  that  the  men  who  did  God's  will  were  his 
brothers  and  sisters  (Mark  3.  35).  In  the  great  judgment 
he  counts  as  his  own  all  who  have  ministered  to  men  in 
his  spirit  (Matthew  25.  34-40).  We  of  to-day  need  to 
recognize  this  larger  fellowship  of  Christlike  spirit  and 
service,  though  it  leads  beyond  the  bounds  of  the  visible 
church  of  Christ.  In  this  day  when  the  love  of  right- 
eousness and  the  service  of  men  are  so  needed,  we  should 
do  all  we  can  to  find  out  the  men  of  this  larger  brother- 
hood, and  to  unite  all  that  will  thus  join  for  a  common 
service. 

DiEECTIONS  FOE  StUDY 

The  Scripture  passages:  Luke  15.  25-32;  Matthew  5.  38-48. 

Go  back  in  brief  review  and  ask  what  Jesus'  idea  of  God's 
Fatherhood  means  for  our  thought  of  God,  of  ourselves,  and 
of  our  life  with  God. 

Now  study  how  Fatherhood  gives  to  us  as  sons  a  law  of  life 
in  relation  to  our  brothers.  Read  the  first  section  of  the  dis- 
cussion. Compare  this  rule  of  brotherhood,  or  sonship,  with 
other  rules  like  the  Golden  Rule. 

Consider  the  principle  of  brotherhood  as  reflected  in  the 
Christian  Church.  Does  this  limit  the  application  of  Christ's 
principle,  or  is  the  church  an  instrument  for  carrying  brother- 


98  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

hood  into  all  the  world's  life?    In  what  ways  is  this  done  by 
the  church? 

What  conditions  in  our  church  life,  local  and  general,  make 
against  brotherhood?  How  are  these  to  be  overcome?  Apply 
these  same  questions  to  our  social,  political,  and  economic 
life. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  LAW  OP  REVERENCE  AND  REGARD 

The  word  "brother'^  is  a  word  that  is  ofteu  lightly  used. 
The  '^brotherhood  of  man"  is  a  phrase  that  is  frequently 
upon  men's  lips.  Often  it  means  no  more  than  the  physical 
or  social  unity  of  the  race.  We  have  seen  that  Jesus  took 
the  word  "brother*'  and  extended  it  to  all  men.  But  he 
did  far  more.  He  deepened  it,  and  filled  it  with  new  and 
richer  meaning.  He  made  of  it  a  great  demand,  a  life  for 
men  to  live  with  each  other.  We  are  to  study  now  in  some 
detail  what  this  life  of  brotherhood  requires,  and  we  be- 
gin with  this  principle:  Every  human  being  is  sacred  in 
the  sight  of  God  and  demands  from  each  of  us  reverence 
and  regard. 

The  Worth  of  a  Man" 

God's  Reverence  for  Man. — The  law  of  reverence  and 
regard  begins  with  God.  God  has  pity  for  all  his  crea- 
tures, but  for  man  he  has  reverence.  Man  may  be  weak 
like  other  creatures,  or  even  sinful;  but  he  is  a  personal 
being  like  God ;  God  is  Father  and  man  is  child.  All  else 
that  we  know  in  God's  universe  is  instrument,  but  man  is 
end.  The  world  is  here  for  the  sake  of  man,  not  man  for 
the  sake  of  the  world.  Man  alone  can  know  what  truth  is, 
and  righteousness,  and  love.  He  can  set  before  himself  a 
goal  and  follow  after  it.  But  the  highest  is  this:  he  can 
know  God  and  live  in  fellowship  with  God.  And  this  is 
true  not  simply  of  the  wise  and  the  strong;  it  belongs  to 
men  as  men,  to  all  human  kind. 

The  Value  of  a  Man. — From  all  this  follows  the  infinite 
value  of  the  human  soul.  He  points  out  to  men  what  their 
own  life  is  worth :  "What  doth  it  profit  a  man,  to  gain  the 

99 


100  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

whole  world,  and  forfeit  his  life?''  (Mark  8.  36,  37.) 
What  Jesus  means  is  not  a  man's  physical  life,  nor  yet  the 
soul's  existence  beyond  the  grave;  he  means  his  true  life 
as  a  man  and  a  child  of  God  both  here  and  yonder.  His 
reference  to  the  child  has  the  same  meaning,  the  priceless 
worth  of  a  single  human  soul.  Here  is  the  child,  he  says, 
the  weakest  and  the  least  of  human  kind;  yet  it  were  bet- 
ter for  a  man,  like  the  criminals  in  Galilee,  to  be  cast  into 
the  lake  with  a  millstone  about  his  neck,  than  to  make  even 
one  such  child  to  stumble  (Mark  9.  42).  The  parables  of 
the  lost  coin  and  the  lost  sheep  assert  the  same  great  truth. 
Though  the  shepherd  has  ninety  and  nine  sheejD,  the  one 
lost  sheep  is  yet  dear  to  him.  The  woman  cannot  forget 
her  tenth  piece  of  silver  though  she  has  nine  others.  So 
God  cannot  forget  a  single  child  of  his  that  wanders. 
Every  single  human  being  has  infinite  value  in  his  eyes. 
And  all  heaven  rejoices  when  one  who  is  lost  comes  back 
(Luke  15.  1-10). 

The  Law  of  Reverence  in  Jesus'  Life 

Jesus'  Treatment  of  Men. — God's  estimate  of  men  and 
God's  treatment  of  them  is  revealed  in  Jesus'  conduct  as 
well  as  in  his  teaching.  There  is  no  man  who  does  not  have 
infinite  value  for  Jesus,  and  none  whom  he  does  not  treat 
as  personal  being.  He  had  his  friends  to  whom  he  was 
specially  drawn — Peter,  James,  John,  the  household  at 
Bethany;  but  no  man  came  under  his  eye  so  poor,  so  sin- 
ful, so  wretched  that  Jesus  did  not  care  for  him.  He  re- 
ceived them  all,  publican,  harlot,  thief  on  the  cross;  each 
one  he  treated  as  a  human  being.  He  had  respect  for  their 
mind.  He  did  not  simply  say,  "You  must  believe  this"; 
he  appealed  to  them  as  reasoning  beings,  "What  think  ye  ?" 
He  had  respect  for  their  wills.  He  did  not  simply  throw 
out  commands;  he  set  forth  ideals,  a  life.  Above  all,  he 
showed  his  reverence  for  men  by  giving  himself  to  them. 
He  became  their  companion,  their  friend. 

His  Attitude  Toward  Sinners. — One  might  write  a  chap- 
ter on  "Jesus  as  Gentleman,"  if  one  could  only  restore  to 


LAW  OF  EEVERENCE  AND  EEGARD   101 

the  latter  word  its  fine  and  true  meaning.    Pure  and  strong 

himself,  toward  the  sinful  and  weak  Jesus  was  always  the 

gentle  man.    There  was  that  in  him  which  the  psalmist  saw 

in  God: 

"Thy  right  hand  hath  holden  me  up. 
And  thy  gentleness  hath  made  me  great." 

With  what  thoughtfulness  and  consideration  he  treats  men ! 
He  does  not  say  to  Zacchaaus,  ^'Traitor  to  your  people  and 
robber  of  men,  come  down."  He  says,  "Zacchasus,  I  must 
be  your  guest  to-day.^'  He  can  be  bold  in  denouncing,  but 
he  does  not  shame  and  humiliate.  Most  beautifully  is  his 
spirit  revealed  in  his  treatment  of  the  woman  taken  in 
adultery  (John  8.  1-11).  She  was  a  mere  harlot  to  her 
accusers.  They  were  not  caring  for  her;  they- were  willing 
to  trample  her  last  bit  of  self-respect  under  foot  in  this 
effort  to  embarrass  Jesus  with  their  question.  For  him  she 
is  still  a  woman,  a  person.  While  they  are  making  their 
charge  he  will  not  look  up  from  the  ground.  When  he 
raises  his  head  at  length,  it  is  to  face  them,  and  not  her^ 
And  then,  stooping  again,  he  leaves  them  with  that  search- 
ing word. 

God's  Way  with  Men. — And  all  this  reflects  God's  way 
with  men.  He  does  not  drive  men;  he  leads  them  with  a 
patience  that  is  measured  by  the  ages.  His  method  with 
the  race  is  that  of  education.  By  sorrows  and  by  joys, 
by  gifts  and  tasks  alike,  he  seeks  to  lead  men  on.  But 
always  he  respects  the  human  personality;  there  is  no 
compulsion,  no  outer  force.  He  has  made  man  to  know 
and  he  appeals  to  man's  thought :  "Come  now,  and  let  us 
reason  together"  (Isaiah  1.  18).  He  has  made  men  to  love, 
and  he  appeals  to  their  affection :  "When  Israel  was  a  child, 
then  I  loved  him."  "I  drew  them  with  cords  of  a  man, 
with  bands  of  love"  (Hosea  11.  1,  4) .  He  offers  man  his 
friendship :  "If  any  man  .  .  .  open  the  door,  I  will  come 
in."  But  here  again  there  is  reverence  for  man.  Man 
must  choose  freely ;  God  never  breaks  down  the  door.  "Be- 
hold, I  stand  at  the  door  and  knock,"  he  says  (Eevelation 
3.  20). 


10^  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

Reverence  for  Self 

The  Higher  Self. — Such  a  reverence  for  human  per- 
sonality on  God's  part  has  far-reaching  meaning  for  us.  It 
means  obligation  as  well  as  privilege,  and  first  of  all  the 
obligation  of  reverence  for  oneself.  That  does  not  involve 
egotism  or  self-esteem,  nor  does  it  mean  selfishness.  Every 
man  has  in  him  three  beings.  There  is  the  man  that  men 
see,  and  that  may  be  very  far  from  the  real  man.  There 
is  the  man  that  he  himself  sees — at  his  worst  a  man  of 
weakness  and  sin,  at  his  best  still  incomplete.  And  then 
there  is  the  man  that  God  sees,  the  ideal  that  God  plans 
for  us  all.  That  is  the  true  man.  We  are  not  ''worms  of 
the  earth,"  or  "creatures  of  the  dust."  We  are  God's  chil- 
dren, and  we  must  live  up  to  that  high  calling. 

The  Sin  Against  Self. — The  story  of  the  rich  fool  gives 
us  Jesus'  teaching  here  (Luke  12.  13-21).  This  man  had 
not  oppressed  his  neighbors,  he  was  not  guilty  of  vice  or 
crime.  He  had  failed  in  reverence  for  his  real  self.  He 
was  a  man,  and  he  had  put  himself  down  on  the  level  of 
things.  He  was  a  soul  in  God's  image ;  he  had  treated  him- 
self as  a  body  which  was  to  eat  and  drink  and  possess. 
If  it  be  a  sin  to  treat  other  men  as  mere  machines,  it  is 
just  as  truly  a  sin  for  a  man  to  treat  himself  that  way. 
He  who  treats  himself  as  a  body  to  be  fed  instead  of  a 
soul  that  is  to  live,  as  a  creature  of  earth  instead  of  a  son 
of  God — he  is  guilty  of  irreverence  toward  man  in  his  own 
person.  Drunkenness  and  gluttony,  greed  and  pride,  are 
all  sins  against  this  true  self,  a  lack  of  reverence  for  human 
personality,  which  God  puts  above  the  world.  And  so 
anger  and  fear,  hatred  and  malice,  and  all  the  rest  are  sins 
against  self,  defiling  God's  image.  Better  far  that  a  man 
cut  off  his  right  hand  or  pluck  out  his  right  eye. 

Eeverence  for  Fellow  Man 

The  Sin  of  Scorn. — Most  searching  is  this  law  of  rever- 
ence for  personality  when  applied  to  our  relations  with 
men.     No  sin  was  more  common  in  Jesus'  day  than  the 


LAW  OF  EEVERENCE  AND  REGARD   103 

scorn  of  man  for  man.  The  priest  was  the  bitter  foe  of 
the  Pharisee,  and  prond  of  his  own  position  and  lineage. 
The  Pharisee  in  turn  despised  the  common  man  who  did 
not  keep  the  strict  law.  The  Jew  hated  the  Samaritan, 
and  both  shared  in  fierce  scorn  for  the  taxgatherer.  They 
themselves  were  despised  as  a  race  by  the  Greek  and  the 
Roman,  and  they  returned  that  feeling  with  interest.  No 
sin  did  Jesus  rebuke  more  severely  than  the  sin  of  scorn 
against  men  (Matthew  18.  10).  He  places  anger  side  by 
side  with  murder;  and  with  even  severer  condemnation  he 
visits  him  who  calls  his  brother  worthless,  or  fool  (Mat- 
thew 5.  21-24) .  It  is  this  that  lies  back  of  his  severe  treat- 
ment of  the  scribes  and  Pharisees.  A  liberal  Jewish 
scholar,!  who  is  not  lacking  in  large  appreciation  of  the 
spirit  and  teaching  of  Jesus,  complains  that  Jesus  did  not 
observe  his  own  law  of  good  will  in  his  denunciation  of  the 
Pharisees.  But  Jesus  scourges  these  men,  not  because  of 
what  they  did  to  him,  but  because  of  what  they  did  to  the 
people,  whom  they  scorned  on  the  one  hand  and  led  astray 
upon  the  other.  Back  of  his  condemnation  is  this  same 
regard  for  men. 

The  Failure  of  the  Old  World. — In  the  world  to  which 
Jesus  came  there  were  many  sacred  things.  ReKgious  tra- 
ditions and  institutions  were  sacred,  and  because  Jesus  ran 
counter  to  these  they  led  him  to  his  death.  The  state  was 
sacred,  and  property,  and  rank,  and  ancient  privilege.  But 
man  was  not  sacred.  The  Jews  were  advanced  beyond 
others  in  their  regard  for  human  rights ;  but  beside  national 
prejudice  which  scorned  other  peoples,  there  was  the  fact 
of  slavery  and  the  position  of  woman.  A  Jew  might 
divorce  his  wife  almost  at  will.  She  herself  had  no  re- 
course, nor  could  she  bring  similar  action  against  him. 
Woman  was  not  treated  as  a  full  personality.  Her  posi- 
tion was  even  worse  in  other  lands.  She  did  not  stand  in 
the  law  for  herself  or  by  herself;  she  must  always  belong 
to  some  one,  to  father,  to  husband,  or,  in  their  absence, 
to  brother  or  son.     The  institution  of  slavery  was  even 


*  Montefiore,  The  Religious  Teaching  of  Jesus. 


104:  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

more  significant.  The  Eoman  empire  numbered  its  slaves 
by  millions,  and  there  were  far  more  slaves  in  Italy  than 
free  men.  The  slaves  were  often  of  the  same  race  as  their 
masters.  As  slaves,  however,  they  were  not  men,  but 
property.  They  could  be  scourged,  imprisoned,  and  even 
killed. 

The  Rule  of  Reverence  To-Day. — The  principle  of  rever- 
ence for  human  personality  underlies  social  advance  in 
every  field  to-day.  Jesus  did  not  discuss  the  modern  prob- 
lems with  which  we  are  familiar,  the  questions  of  industry, 
politics,  war,  education,  the  position  of  woman,  the  rights 
of  the  child.  And  yet  by  his  teaching  of  reverence  for 
human  personality  Jesus  has  done  more  to  solve  these  prob- 
lems than  the  greatest  world  leader  of  our  times.  Democ- 
racy is  one  great  expression  of  it,  for  democracy  rests 
back  upon  the  simple  truth  of  the  worth  of  man  as  man. 
World  peace  is  another  conclusion  drawn  from  it;  for  war 
springs  from  the  greeds  and  hates  of  national  governments, 
and  sacrifices  the  common  man.  Where  Jesus'  principle 
iprevails,  war  must  go.  The  movement  for  social  and  in- 
dustrial justice  also  rests  upon  this  principle.  We  are  no 
longer  content  to  talk  about  great  factories  and  a  big 
balance  of  trade.  What  does  all  this  mean  for  the  men 
and  women  that  work  ?  Have  they  a  fair  share  of  what  is 
brought  forth?  Are  they  decently  housed  and  properly 
fed  ?  Is  there  work  for  the  man  that  wants  it  ?  Are  chil- 
dren rightly  born  into  the  world  and  rightly  trained  for 
life  ?  More  and  more  we  are  seeing  how  radical  this  jDrinci- 
ple  of  Jesus  is.  Only  one  thing  is  sacred,  not  property  or 
profit,  not  the  state  nor  the  church :  manhood  is  sacred  and 
manhood  alone.  Everything  else  must  answer  the  test: 
What  does  this  mean  for  the  welfare  of  human  beings  ? 

The  Eule  of  Reverence  as  an  Instrument  of  Power 

Reverence  and  Life. — This  rule  of  reverence  and  regard 
for  moral  personality  has  another  most  important  meaning. 
We  must  remember  it  not  simply  in  giving  men  their  rights, 
but  in  our  efforts  to  serve  men.    You  can  mold  clay  into 


LAW  OF  REVERENCE  AND  REGARD    105 

bricks  by  the  mere  use  of  force  from  without;  you  cannot 
help  men  that  way.  You  may  be  dealing  with  the  little 
child  who  is  all  ignorant,  or  with  the  criminal  who  seems 
to  have  forfeited  all  rights;  but  if  you  are  to  train  in  the 
one  case,  or  to  reform  in  the  other,  you  must  remember  that 
you  are  dealing  with  personal  beings,  not  with  things.  The 
rule  of  reverence  and  regard  must  be  observed.  In  the 
one,  as  in  the  other,  there  is  a  personal  life.  Unless  you 
reverence  that  life  and  seek  to  enlist  its  forces,  you  are 
helpless. 

Jesus'  Method  and  Its  Power. — We  have  seen  that  this 
was  Jesus'  method,  to  reverence  the  hum.an  in  man  and 
to  call  it  forth;  and  no  one  has  shown  the  power  of  that 
method  more  than  he.  He  combined  here  two  needed 
qualities  for  the  helpful  dealing  with  men.  First,  he  saw 
clearly  what  was.  No  one  saw  more  plainly  the  sins  and 
faults  of  men ;  he  was  no  dreamy  sentimentalist.  Second, 
he  had  faith  in  what  might  be;  and  so  he  called  forth  all 
that  was  in  men.  He  touched  them  with  his  spirit,  and 
they  rose  in  newness  of  life.  He  gave  them  confidence, 
confidence  in  God,  confidence  in  themselves.  To  others 
they  were  harlots,  publicans,  sinners;  he  treated  them  like 
men,  like  children  of  God.  And  they  responded  to  his 
faith. 

Directions  for  Study 

The  Scripture  passages:  Luke  15.  1-10;  John  8.  1-11;  Luke 
12.  13-21;  Mark  8.  36,  37;  Matthew  18.  1-14;   5.  21-24. 

Most  of  these  Scripture  passages  we  have  already  studied 
from  other  standpoints.  Go  over  them  rapidly,  but  carefully, 
with  one  thought  in  mind:  what  do  they  teach  of  the  infinite 
worth  of  a  human  soul  and  the  right  regard  for  it? 

Study  first  the  Christian  basis  for  this  truth:  that  man  is 
like  God,  and  was  made  for  God  as  God's  son.  Is  there  any 
other  sufficient  basis  for  this  law  of  reverence? 

Now  consider  in  the  light  of  this  truth  of  what  man  is, 
Jesus'  attitude  toward  men,  God's  attitude  as  thus  revealed 
by  Jesus,  and  what  our  attitude  should  be. 

Point  out  where  the  greatest  advances  have  been  made  in 
our  modern  life  in  line  with  this  principle.  Point  out  some 
features  of  our  modern  life  which  still  contradict  this  truth. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  LAW  OF  GEACE  AND  GOOD  WILL 

The  law  of  brotherhood,  we  have  seen,  is  a  law  of  rever- 
ence; we  are  to  hold  every  human  being  sacred  because  he 
is  man,  no  matter  what  he  has  done.  But  Jesus'  law  of 
brotherhood  leads  us  farther  than  that.  Brotherhood  means 
also  the  spirit  of  love,  that  spirit  that  desires  the  good  of 
all  men. 

Was  the  Teaching  New  ? 

Love  and  Mercy  in  the  Old  Testament. — The  principle 
of  love  and  mercy  was  not  a  new  teaching.  The  Old  Testa- 
ment, which  speaks  of  God's  spirit  of  mercy,  also  declares 
the  duty  of  man's  love  for  man  (Deuteronomy  10.  18,  19 ; 
15.  7-11;  24.  17-22;  Isaiah  58.  6,  7;  Micah  6.  8;  Zechariah 
7.  9).  It  was  from  the  Old  Testament  that  Jesus  quoted 
when  he  set  forth  the  law  of  love  for  God  and  man.  And 
the  passages  just  referred  to  do  not  limit  this  love  to 
Israel;  men  were  to  show  it  to  the  poor  and  to  the  for- 
eigner living  in  their  midst.  And  both  the  spirit  and  the 
principle  of  good  will  appear  with  teachers  outside  of 
Judaism  and  Christianity.  Buddha  exalts  the  principle 
of  mercy  and  Confucius  taught  that  men  were  not  to  do 
to  others  what  they  would  not  have  done  to  themselves. 

What  Jesus  Did. — And  yet  in  this  teacliing,  too,  Jesus 
began  a  new  day.  In  the  Old  Testament  the  law  of  love 
is  one  among  many  other  laws;  in  actual  practice  among 
the  Jews  it  was  obscured  by  innumerable  rules  about 
sacrifices  and  tithes  and  washings.  Jesus  makes  it  central 
and  supreme.  This  spirit  of  love  and  good  will  is  not  one 
among  many  duties,  it  is  the  heart  of  a  man's  life ;  out  of 
this  one  spirit  of  love  toward  God  and  man  all  else  must 
flow.    The  gift  on  the  altar  takes  second  place ;  God  wants 

106 


LAW  OF  GEACE  AND  GOOD  WILL  107 

the  spirit  of  mercy,  not  sacrifice.  Better  to  leave  the  gift 
than  to  have  a  brother  unreconciled.  Further,  Jesus  set 
forth  that  spirit  so  clearly  in  his  own  life  and  death,  and 
communicated  it  with  such  power  to  his  followers,  that 
what  had  been  a  word  became  a  life,  a  life  that  has  steadily 
grown  in  the  world  ever  since. 

The  Law  in  God  and  Man 

Three  Stages  in  the  Knowledge  of  God. — The  law  of 

grace  and  good  will  goes  back  to  the  character  of  God,  as 
does  all  Jesus^  teaching.  There  are  three  stages  in  man's 
thought  about  God.  There  is  first  the  pagan  stage,  where 
God  is  power.  Whether  that  power  be  good  or  evil  men 
cannot  know  for  sure,  and  so  they  try  with  prayer  and  gift 
to  win  the  favor  of  this  uncertain  or  unwilling  God.  There 
is  a  second  stage  in  which  men  think  of  God  as  just.  Men 
know  what  they  may  expect,  and  that  it  will  be  strictly 
according  to  desert,  good  when  they  have  done  good,  evil 
when  they  have  done  evil.  From  this  stage  Jesus  led  men 
to  the  third  and  highest:  God  is  pure  and  perfect  good 
will.  His  gifts  of  sun  and  rain  come  alike  to  good  and 
evil.  No  man  has  sinned  so  deeply  that  love  and  forgive- 
ness do  not  await  his  return.  Nay,  more,  he  is  like  the 
father  of  the  wayward  boy  going  out  upon  the  way:  God 
does  not  simply  await,  but  searches  out  his  straying  chil- 
dren. 

Three  Stages  in  Man's  Life  with  Man. — In  these  three 
conceptions  of  God  are  pictured  the  stages  of  man's  own 
life  by  which  he  has  risen  from  lower  to  highest  in  his 
association  with  his  brother  men.  There  is  the  stage  of 
mere  might,  in  which  man  thinks  nothing  of  others  (except 
his  little  circle  of  family  or  tribe)  and  seeks  all  that  he 
can  get  for  himself.  There  is  a  second  stage,  the  stage  of 
bald  justice,  and  this  is  reflected  in  that  law  which  Jesus 
quotes.  Where  men  receive  good,  they  give  in  return. 
They  love  the  friends  who  love  them.  When  they  make 
a  supper  they  invite  as  guests  those  from  whom  they  ex- 
pect invitation  in  return.     And  when  they  receive  evil. 


108  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

they  return  this  also  in  like  kind,  "an  eye  for  an  eye,  and 
a  tooth  for  a  tooth."  This  was  the  common  level  of  Jesus' 
day  among  the  Jews,  though  Jesus  declared  that  it  was 
not  higher  than  that  of  the  Gentiles  (Matthew  5.  47). 
The  third  stage  again  is  that  of  Jesus'  teaching,  and  Jesus 
connects  it  directly  with  liis  thought  of  God.  The  rule 
of  God's  life  is  grace  and  good  will;  no  lower  standard 
will  serve  for  man.  You  are  to  be  sons  of  your  Father,  you 
are  to  be  perfect  as  your  Father  in  heaven  is  perfect.  To 
love  even  where  he  is  not  loved  in  return,  to  give  though 
men  do  not  deserve,  that  is  the  Father's  spirit. 

The  Law  of  Forgiveness 

No  Forgiveness  for  the  Unforgiving. — Forgiveness  is 
the  first  manifestation  of  this  spirit  in  man.  God  is  in- 
credibly merciful.  Without  that  mercy  no  man  could  stand 
before  him.  For  even  when  we  have  done  our  best  we  are 
unprofitable  servants.  Every  day's  close  finds  us  in  need 
of  the  same  prayer:  "Forgive  us  our  trespasses."  But 
though  God's  forgiveness  is  so  boundless,  he  cannot  forgive 
the  unforgi^dng.  Here  Jesus,  always  so  merciful,  draws 
a  sharp  line.  "If  ye  forgive  not  men  their  trespasses,"  he 
says,  "neither  will  your  Father  forgive  your  trespasses." 
No  man  dare  come  before  God  with  any  other  prayer  for 
pardon  than  this:  "Forgive  us  our  debts,  as  we  also  have 
forgiven  our  debtors"  (Matthew  6.  12-15).  This  is,  how- 
ever, no  limit  to  God's  grace,  but  only  a  true  conception  of 
what  forgiveness  is.  If  forgiveness  were  merely  wiping  out 
a  debt,  God  could  do  that  for  any  man  and  without  con- 
dition. But  forgiveness  means  God's  taking  a  man  into 
fellowship  with  himself;  it  means  oneness  of  spirit  with 
God.  The  man  who  holds  an  unforgiving  spirit  may  be 
asking  God  to  overlook  his  sin,  but  he  does  not  really  want 
forgiveness;  for  God's  forgiveness  means  his  spirit  of  for- 
giving in  us  as  well  as  for  us. 

The  Sin  of  the  Unforgiving  Spirit. — In  the  parable  of 
the  cruel  servant  Jesus  sets  forth  the  unforgiving  spirit 
in  man  and  what  it  means  (Matthew  18.  21-35).     Here 


LAW  OF  GRACE  AND  GOOD  WILL  109 

was  a  man  who  owed  his  king  an  incredible  amount,  ten 
millions  of  dollars,  a  debt  that  he  could  by  no  possibility 
pay.  So  his  master  ordered  the  law  to  take  its  course, 
and,  according  to  the  cruel  provision  of  the  time,  planned 
to  have  the  man  and  his  family  sold  into  slavery.  When 
the  poor  wretch  fell  down,  however,  and  asked  for  mercy, 
his  master  had  pity  and  remitted  the  whole  debt.  There- 
upon the  servant  who  had  obtained  this  great  mercy  went 
out  and  found  a  fellow  servant  who  owed  him  a  few  dol- 
lars. Him  he  took  by  the  throat  and  flung  into  prison, 
because  he  could  not  pay  the  paltry  debt.  So  Jesus  holds 
up  to  scorn  and  condemnation  the  hard  and  unforgiving 
spirit  of  men. 

Forgiveness  and  Reconciliation. — The  right  attitude  will 
be  very  different  from  this.  Because  we  know  ourselves 
as  sinners  utterly  dependent  upon  God's  mercy,  we  should 
be  humble  in  heart  and  merciful  toward  all  the  wrongs 
and  weakness  of  our  fellows.  Because  we  must  go  to  God 
every  day  for  pardon,  we  should  be  ready  to  forgive  our 
brother  seventy  times  seven — that  is,  times  without  num- 
ber. Nor  should  this  spirit  of  forgiveness  be  simply  pas- 
sive, a  readiness  to  pardon  when  our  brother  comes.  It 
should  be  active.  We  should  do  all  in  our  power  to  recon- 
cile our  brother,  no  matter  who  is  in  the  wrong.  God 
cares  more  for  that  than  for  worship  (Matthew  5.  23, 
24).  As  God  wants  all  his  children  to  stand  in  right  rela- 
tions to  himself,  as  Jesus  not  merely  forgave  sinners  but 
went  out  to  seek  them,  so  the  spirit  of  grace  and  good  will 
vtdll  seek  to  have  right  relations  of  brotherly  love  and  un- 
derstanding with  all  men. 

The  Spirit  of  Good  Will 

Good  Will  Without  Measure  or  Limit. — Back  of  the 
spirit  of  forgiveness,  and  back  of  all  else  in  the  thought 
of  Jesus,  should  lie  the  spirit  of  good  will.  The  wonder- 
ful passage  of  Matthew  5.  38-48  sets  forth  this  ideal,  words 
that  the  student  of  Jesus'  message  needs  to  turn  to  again 
and  again.    The  words  have  been  constantly  misunderstood 


110  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

because  men  have  treated  them  as  a  series  of  command- 
ments. What  Jesus  is  setting  forth  here  is  not  a  new  set 
of  laws,  but  a  new  spirit.  The  spirit  of  our  life  should  not 
be  that  of  give  and  take,  good  for  the  good,  evil  for  the 
evil,  but  a  spirit  of  good  will  that  knows  no  limit.  Like 
the  love  of  the  Father  who  sees  in  every  man  his  child, 
our  deep  desire  should  be  the  good  of  every  man,  seeing 
in  every  man  our  brother.  The  hate  of  others  should  not 
overcome  that  good  will:  "Love  your  enemies,  and  pray 
for  them  that  persecute  you.''  Nor  are  there  any  other 
bounds  which  that  good  will  should  know.  It  is  easy  to 
love  family  and  friends,  but  this  good  will  should  go  out  to 
the  man  whose  skin  is  of  another  hue,  who  does  not  speak 
our  language  or  hold  our  faith,  who  dwells  on  the  other 
side  of  our  city  or  the  other  side  of  the  globe. 

Not  Rules,  but  a  Spirit. — Use  every  chance  to  show  this 
good  will,  no  matter  what  it  costs.  Here  is  one  that  strikes 
you.  That  is  not  a  great  injury,  for  it  has  only  touched 
your  body.  But  it  will  be  a  real  injury  if  you  let  him  rouse 
anger  and  bitterness  in  you,  and  drive  you  to  strike  back. 
Better  turn  the  other  cheek;  you  have  kept  your  spirit  of 
good  will  and  you  may  win  him.  Let  us  remember  that 
these  are  illustrations  of  a  spirit,  not  assertions  of  hard- 
and-fast  rules.  'If  you  are  defending  your  wife  against  a 
drunken  brute,  then  the  law  of  good  will  may  demand  some- 
thing else.    Here,  as  always,  it  is  the  spirit  that  counts. 

The  First  Mile. — One  of  the  expressive  figures  that 
Jesus  uses  to  set  forth  this  spirit  of  good  will  is  that  of 
the  second  mile.  Roman  soldiery  on  the  march  could  com- 
pel any  man  to  go  with  them  for  a  certain  distance,  giv- 
ing them  help  as  porter  or  guide  or  in  other  ways.  That  is 
the  first  mile  of  life  which  we  all  know,  the  mile  of  com- 
pulsion. There  is  about  so  much  of  compulsion  in  all  our 
lives.  We  must  work  or  we  will  starve.  A  man  must  care 
for  his  family  or  the  law  will  step  in.  We  must  show  a 
certain  amount  of  decency  and  honesty  or  society  "will 
ostracize  us.  We  must  do  about  so  much  work  or  we  shall 
lose  our  job.  That  is  the  first  mile,  and  that  is  not  a 
matter  of  choice. 


LAW  OF  GRACE  AND  GOOD  WILL  111 

The  Religion  of  the  Second  Mile. — It  is  the  second  mile 
for  which  Jesus  is  pleading.  There  is  where  his  religion 
lies,  the  religion  of  grace  that  goes  beyond  compulsion, 
that  does  not  ask,  "What  do  men  deserve?"  or,  "What 
does  law  demand  ?"  but  simply,  "What  can  I  do  for  others  ?" 
The  employee  who  gives  that  thought  and  interest  for 
which  wages  cannot  pay,  is  traveling  the  second  mile.  The 
mother,  who  never  tliinks  of  wages  nor  measures  her  hours, 
but  only  loves  and  gives,  is  on  the  second  mile.  All  high 
patriotism,  all  unselfish  service,  all  love  and  friendship,  all 
heroism  and  sacrifice,  belong  to  this  second  mile.  Here 
men  forget  the  hard  "must''  in  the  joy  of  "may,"  here  men 
forget  weariness  in  the  passion  of  love,  and  find  God, 
whose  rule  of  life  is  not  compulsion,  but  grace  and  mercy. 
Along  the  first  mile  men  are  servants,  along  the  second 
mile  they  walk  as  free  sons  in  fellowship  with  their  Father. 
Along  the  first  road  men  ask  about  duty,  along  the  second 
they  declare,  "I  rejoice  to  do  thy  will,  0  my  God ;  yea,  thy 
law  is  within  my  heart."  But  the  best  of  Jesus'  message 
is  this :  a  man  may  take  the  spirit  of  the  second  mile  back 
into  the  first,  and  make  the  spirit  of  grace  and  good  will 
the  heart  of  all  his  living.  So  doing  a  man  turns  even 
the  first  mile  of  duty  into  a  way  of  freedom. 

The  Life  of  Jesus  Interprets  His  Words. — The  final  in- 
terpretation of  the  words  of  Jesus  must  always  be  the  spirit 
and  life  of  Jesus.  It  is  easy  to  pervert  his  teaching  by 
clinging  to  his  words.  In  one  instance,  at  least,  he  him- 
self did  not  turn  the  other  cheek  when  he  was  smitten 
unjustly,  according  to  John's  report  (John  18.  22,  23). 
He  did  not  always  give  what  men  asked.  That  would 
often  mean  to  injure  men,  and  the  rule  of  Christ  is  love. 
But  on  the  other  hand,  if  we  are  to  know  all  the  beauty 
and  wonder  and  power  of  this  spirit  of  •unquenchable  good 
will,  we  must  turn  to  the  picture  of  Jesus.  He  must  stand 
before  us  as  we  read  his  words,  unwearied  in  well-doing, 
undeterred  by  men's  selfishness  or  ingratitude  or  enmity, 
his  love,  his  charity,  his  mercy  flowing  on  like  a  healing 
flood  that  covers  all  that  is  unsightly  or  evil  and  purifies 
all  that  is  unclean.    What  a  lesson  to  our  narrowness  as 


112  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

we  let  our  thoughts  review  the  company  of  those  whom  he 
served  and  loved ! — a  Roman  centurion  of  a  hated  race,  a 
Canaanitish  woman  scorned  as  pagan,  a  hated  publican  like 
Zacchseus,  some  little  children  in  the  market  place,  a  blind 
beggar  whose  voice  could  scarcely  rise  above  the  din  of 
the  crowd,  a  heart-broken  mother,  a  group  of  repulsive 
lepers,  a  disciple  who  was  waiting  to  betray  him,  another 
who  denied  him,  and  at  last  the  city  that  rejected  him  and 
the  soldiers  whose  hands  drove  the  nails.  Words  are  like 
vessels:  it  is  what  fills  them  that  counts.  Men  had  said 
love  before,  but  Jesus  has  forever  given  that  word  its 
meaning. 

Jesus'  Confidence  in  the  Powee  of  Good  Will 

How  Jesus  Used  It. — But  something  more  lies  back  of 
these  words,  and  that  is  Jesus'  confidence  in  this  same  good 
will  as  the  greatest  power  in  the  world.  It  was  the  power 
that  he  himself  used.  He  used  it  with  the  poor,  the  suf- 
fering, and  the  sinful.  He  won  the  poor  and  suffering  by 
his  kindly  service.  He  won  the  sinful  not  by  condemna- 
tion, but  by  his  love  and  mercy.  But  he  used  this  same 
weapon  against  his  enemies  also.  When  they  had  poured 
upon  him  the  last  vials  of  their  wrath,  when  their  hatred 
had  hunted  him  to  the  cross,  his  answer  was  this  same 
spirit  of  love  and  good  will. 

The  Final  Hope. — There  are  times  when  force  is  needed. 
The  state  nmst  sometimes  restrain  the  man  who  is  danger- 
ous to  society,  whether  criminal  or  insane.  To  yield  to 
every  wish  of  every  man  would  be  to  injure  often  instead 
of  helping ;  it  would  not  mean  good  will.  And  we  ourselves 
may  sometimes  have  to  use  physical  force.  But  the  real 
work  of  the  world  is  not  done  by  force.  The  real  power 
in  the  world  that  builds  and  saves  and  lifts  mankind  is 
this  power  of  loving  good  will.  That  is  the  power  that 
must  be  shown  at  all  costs.  Sometimes  it  will  show  itself 
in  suffering  with  the  turned  cheek  and  the  coat  that  is 
taken.  Sometimes  it  will  show  itself  in  giving  to  him  that 
asks.    But  this  is  the  spirit  that  must  come  forth,  for  it 


LAW  OF  GEACE  AND  GOOD  WILL  113 

alone  can  save.    It  is  not  only  our  true  life,  God's  life  in 
"US,  but  it  is  also  the  world's  only  hope. 

The  Verdict  of  History. — And  history  has  shown  its 
power.  When  Jesus  went  to  the  cross,  loving  and  suffer- 
ing instead  of  smiting  liis  foes,  it  looked  as  though  all 
hope  for  his  kingdom  was  gone.  But  the  cross,  the  symbol 
of  his  unconquerable  good  will  to  men,  was  not  the  end, 
but  the  beginning.  From  it  have  flowed  in  deepening, 
broadening  streams  those  mighty  currents  of  love  and  good 
will  that  are  renewing  the  earth  to-day.  Proud  Jerusalem 
went  to  its  ruin,  the  armies  of  mighty  Rome  are  long  since 
gone,  but  the  King  of  Love  sits  on  his  throne  to-day  more 
securely  than  ever.  Slowly,  but  surely,  his  spirit  of  love 
and  good  will  is  superseding  the  reign  of  greed  and  self- 
assertion  and  brute  force.  And  the  great  world  war  is 
only  one  more  witness  to  the  failure  of  that  appeal  to 
selfishness  and  force  which  curses  those  who  invoke  it 
even  more  than  those  upon  whom  its  blows  fall. 

DiEECTIONS  FOE  StUDY 

Read  the  Scripture  passages:  Matthew  6.  12-15;  5.  23,  24; 
5.  38-48;   18.  21-35. 

Consider  first  what  Jesus  brought  that  was  new  on  this 
theme.  How  did  he  join  this  to  his  idea  of  God?  How  did 
he  illustrate  it  in  his  life? 

Read  the  story  of  the  unmerciful  servant  and  ask:  "Why  is 
the  unforgiving  spirit  considered  so  great  a  fault  by  Jesus? 
Why  cannot  God  forgive  those  who  are  unforgiving? 

Consider  Jesus'  picture  of  the  spirit  of  good  will  as  given 
in  Matthew  5.  38-48.  Show  how  he  illustrated  it  and  trusted 
in  its  power.  Where  are  we  limiting  this  spirit  to-day? 
Where  is  this  spirit  showing  its  power  as  between  men  and. 
men,  and  between  nations? 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  LAW  OF  SERVICE  AKD  SACRIFICE 

In  three  chapters  we  have  now  studied  the  law  of  the 
Life  with  men  according  to  Jesus.  Brotherhood  was  the 
first  word,  since  we  are  all  sons  of  one  Father,  trying  to 
live  in  his  spirit.  Reverence  was  the  next  word,  the  re- 
gard for  every  man  as  man,  as  son  of  the  Father  and  of 
infinite  worth.  Then  came  the  law  of  grace  and  good  will, 
the  desire  for  the  good  of  every  man,  no  matter  what  he 
was  or  what  he  deserved.  Now  we  take  one  step  further 
and  study  the  law  of  service. 

The  Law  of  Seevice 

In  Jesus'  Life. — We  have  already  seen  how  the  law  of 

service  was  made  plain  in  Jesus'  own  life.  What  he  taught 
his  disciples  he  had  first  worked  out  for  himself.  He  had 
faced  the  question  at  the  beginning  of  his  ministry:  as 
the  Messiah  should  he  rule  or  serve?  He  gave  answer  in 
the  lesson  that  he  read  at  Nazareth : 

"The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me, 
Because  he  anointed  me  to  preach  good  tidings  to  the  poor: 
He  hath  sent  me  to  proclaim  release  to  the  captives, 
And  recovering  of  sight  to  the  blind, 
To  set  at  liberty  them  that  are  bruised. 
To  proclaim  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord." 

At  the  close  of  his  ministry  he  turned  to  those  that  knew 
him  best  and  said:  "I  am  in  the  midst  of  you  as  he  that 
serveth.'^  As  teacher,  as  healer,  as  friend,  all  his  life  can 
be  described  by  that  one  word,  servant.  And  as  he  lived, 
so  he  died,  giving  his  life  in  service,  that  he  might  do 
by  his  death  what  his  life  had  not  accomplished  for  men. 

The  Rule  of  the  Kingdom. — To  his  disciples  Jesus  de- 
clared that  this  life  of  service  was  not  exceptional,  it  was 

114 


LAW  OF  SERVICE  AND  SACRIFICE         115 

the  law  of  all  life  in  his  kingdom.  Clearly  he  sets  the  two 
ideals  of  life  over  against  each  other.  In  the  pagan  world 
power  means  lordship :  '^Their  great  ones  exercise  authority 
over  them.''  Power  means  the  right  to  command  others, 
to  make  them  serve  you.  That  was  what  James  and  John 
were  thinking  about  as  they  dreamed  of  the  glories  of  the 
coming  rule  of  their  Master.  The  other  disciples  did  not 
think  differently ;  they  simply  objected  because  the  brothers 
were  trying  to  get  ahead  of  them.  That  was  the  pagan 
spirit,  Jesus  said.  It  was  different  in  his  realm.  There 
power  meant  a  better  chance  to  help,  and  position  meant 
the  opportunity  to  serve.  There  was  still  room  for  ambi- 
tion, but  it  was  an  ambition  to  be  useful;  there  was  a 
chance  for  greatness,  but  the  measure  of  greatness  was 
not  what  a  man  got  for  himself  but  what  he  did  for  others 
(Mark  10.35-45). 

*'I  Have  Given  Yon  an  Example." — In  the  fourth  Gospel 
the  message  is  given  in  connection  with  the  simple  but 
eloquent  scene  of  the  washing  of  the  feet.  "So  when  he 
had  washed  their  feet,  and  taken  his  garments,  and  sat 
down  again,  he  said  unto  them.  Know  ye  what  I  have  done 
to  you  ?  Ye  call  me.  Teacher,  and.  Lord :  and  ye  say  well ; 
for  so  I  am.  If  I  then,  the  Lord  and  the  Teacher,  have 
washed  your  feet,  ye  also  ought  to  wash  one  another's 
feet.  For  I  have  given  you  an  example,  that  ye  also  should 
do  as  I  have  done  to  you"  (John  13.  12-15). 

The  Mark  of  a  Christian" 

The  Essential  Demand. — Jesus  made  service  the  distin- 
guishing mark  of  his  disciples.  God's  spirit  is  grace  and 
goodness,  and  where  that  spirit  appears  in  men,  there  you 
see  the  sons  of  God.  Love  and  service  were  not  new  words 
when  Jesus  spoke  them;  great  teachers  had  used  them 
often  before.  Such  teachers,  however,  had  joined  these 
words  with  endless  other  obligations  as  to  belief  and  action. 
Jesus  said,  this  is  the  spirit  that  makes  a  man  like  God. 
The  story  of  the  good  Samaritan  illustrates  this.  The 
lawyer  agreed  with  Jesus  that  love  was  the  supreme  and 


116  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

sufficient  law,  but  it  took  this  story  to  show  just  what  the 
law  meant.  It  meant  that  high  office  in  the  church  and 
correct  belief  about  religion  were  not  enough;  the  priest 
and  the  Levite  stand  condemned.  These  were  men  of  pure 
blood  and  proud  of  their  race,  but  that  did  not  count.  The 
Samaritan  was  of  a  mongrel  race,  but  that  did  not  matter. 
He  did  not  know  who  it  was  that  he  helped,  nor  do  we ; 
but  that  did  not  matter.  Only  one  thing  counted,  a  spirit 
of  loving  helpfulness  to  the  man  that  was  in  need  (Luke 
10.  25-37). 

The  Tie  of  Christian  Fellowship. — Another  time  he 
gave  the  same  lesson  to  his  disciples.  The  disciples  had 
found  a  certain  man  who  was  not  of  their  company  and 
yet  was  healing  men  in  Jesus'  name;  *'and  we  forbade 
him,'^  they  reported  to  Jesus,  *^'because  he  followed  not  us.'' 
What  Jesus  rebukes  here  is  the  narro^vness  of  those  who 
make  religion  consist  chiefly  in  belonging  to  their  circle 
or  their  c-hurch.  Those  who  serve  belong  to  us,  declares 
Jesus.  To  make  men  stumble,  that  is  the  great  sin:  but 
to  help  men,  if  only  with  a  cup  of  cold  water,  that  is  to 
win  sure  reward.  To  receive  even  a  little  child  in  the 
spirit  of  Jesus  ("in  my  name"),  is  to  receive  him  (Mark 
9.  37-42). 

The  Basis  of  Judgment. — But  the  clearest  declaration 
of  this  message  appears  in  the  great  judgment  picture  of 
Matthew  25.  31-46.  In  simple  but  majestic  phrase  Jesus 
pictures  that  final  separation  that  must  take  place  among 
men,  based  not  upon  any  vindictive  wrath  of  God,  but 
simply  upon  the  character  of  men  themselves,  that  judg- 
ment which  means  the  separation  of  men  that  each  may 
go  to  his  own.  Significant  is  the  principle  of  separation. 
Many  things  that  the  church  has  emphasized  do  not  appear 
here.  One  principle  decides:  Did  you  help  your  fellow 
men  in  their  need?  And  so  they  i^ass  to  right  and  left. 
Here  are  the  men  who  had  pity  on  the  hungr}'  and  home- 
less and  naked,  who  visited  those  in  prison,  whose  heart 
was  big  enough  to  go  beyond  family  and  friends  and  take 
in  the  stranger.  On  the  other  side  stand,  not  the  Jews 
whom  "Christian"  nations  have  hunted,  not  heretics  whom 


LAW  OF  SERVICE  AND  SACRIFICE  117 

church  or  synagogue  have  cast  forth,  not  pagans  who  have 
never  heard  of  Christ,  but  simply  the  men  who  have  not 
shown  the  Father's  spirit  in  helping  their  brothers. 

A  Simple  Eellgion. — How  simple  and  warm  and  human 
is  this  religion  according  to  Christ!  Puzzling  questions 
about  theology  and  church  organizations  and  sacraments 
are  left  aside.  Who  cannot  understand  what  Jesus  here 
sets  forth :  to  give  the  cup  of  water,  to  wash  the  dusty  tired 
feet,  to  show  friendship  to  a  stranger,  to  have  pity  on  a 
fellow  man  ?    This  is  Christianity  according  to  Christ. 

How  Men"  May  Seeve  God 

Worship  As  Privilege,  Not  Service. — "But,"  says  some 
one,  "what  about  the  things  that  we  owe  to  God?  What 
about  sacrifices  and  offerings  which  men  of  all  times  have 
felt  were  due  to  God?  What  about  love  and  the  faith 
that  men  should  have  in  God?  And  what  of  the  prayers 
and  praise  that  we  should  bring  to  him  in  public  service 
and  in  private  devotion  ?"  Now,  faith  and  love  and  prayer 
have  their  full  place  in  Jesus'  teaching,  as  they  had  in  his 
own  life.  That  was  life  indeed,  to  know  God  in  trust,  to 
walk  with  him  in  fellowship.  But  Jesus  did  not  speak 
of  these  as  the  service  of  God.  Rather  this  was  the  way 
God  served  men,  to  show  himself  that  they  might  trust, 
to  give  himself  that  they  might  love  and  pray.  All  these 
are  God's  grace  and  man's  high  life,  but  not  man's  service 
done  to  God. 

God  Does  Not  Need  Man's  Gifts  for  Himself. — In  the 
most  literal  sense  of  the  word,  there  is  nothing  that  man 
can  do  for  God  directly;  the  only  real  service  of  God  is 
the  service  of  men.  Psalmist  and  prophet  had  seen  this 
long  ago.  Jehovah  does  not  want  sacrifices  and  burnt-offer- 
ings; he  has  no  need  of  such.  "For  every  beast  of  the 
forest  is  mine,  and  the  cattle  upon  a  thousand  hills.  ...  If 
I  were  hungry  I  would  not  tell  thee ;  for  the  world  is  mine, 
and  the  fullness  thereof."  Jehovah  was  not  a  God  de- 
manding things  for  himself  even  if  he  needed  and  men 
had  them  to  give;  he  is  a  God  who  gives  to  men.     "For 


118  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

I  spake  not  unto  your  fathers  .  .  .  concerning  burnt- 
offerings  or  sacrifices:  but  this  thing  I  commanded  them, 
saying,  Hearken  unto  my  voice,  and  I  will  be  your  God, 
and  ye  shall  be  my  people ;  and  walk  ye  in  all  the  way  that 
I  command  you,  that  it  may  be  well  with  you^^  (Psalm  50. 
7-15;  Micah  6.  7;  Jeremiah  7.  22,  23). 

Serving  God  by  Serving  Man. — How,  then,  can  men 
serve  God  if  God  has  no  need  that  men  can  supply,  and  no 
desire  except  to  serve  men?  The  last  words  give  the  an- 
swer: serving  men  is  the  service  of  God.  How  real  that 
service  is  we  shall  see  when  we  study  Christian  steward- 
ship ;  now  we  note  only  the  fact  as  seen  in  Jesus'  teaching. 
Prayer  and  praise  and  worship  are  our  privilege,  they  are 
for  our  own  need.  But  the  one  real  service  that  God  asks 
of  us  is  to  serve  our  fellow  men.  And  now  we  get  the 
full  meaning  of  Jesus'  words  in  the  judgment  scene:  "In- 
asmuch as  ye  did  it  unto  one  of  these  my  brethren,  even 
these  least,  ye  did  it  unto  me." 

The  Law  of  Saceifice 

Sacrifice,  Pagan  and  Christian. — The  Christian  law  of 
sacrifice  belongs  with  the  law  of  service,  and  is  indeed  a 
part  of  it.  First  of  all,  however,  we  must  reject  the  pagan 
idea  that  sacrifice  means  something  by  which  God  gains 
and  man  loses.  The  Hindu  mother  thinks  to  please  her 
god  by  giving  what  is  dearest  to  her,  and  so  casts  her  babe 
into  the  Ganges.  But  the  pleasure  of  God  is  in  the  good 
of  man,  not  in  his  loss.  He  does  not  need  our  offerings  to 
supply  his  wants,  nor  do  we  need  to  bring  them  to  win  his 
interest.  And  yet  there  is  sacrifice  in  Christianity,  and 
that  too  at  its  very  heart.  The  cross  is  not  merely  the 
symbol  of  Christ,  but  of  the  life  of  his  followers  (j\Iark 
8.  31-37).  We  gain  the  Christian  meaning  of  sacrifice  by 
looking  at  Jesus'  own  life.  His  sacrifice  was  not  the  suffer- 
ing of  death  to  appease  an  angrj^  God;  it  was,  rather,  the 
devotion  of  his  whole  life  to  God's  purpose  of  love  for 
man.  And  that  is  what  sacrifice  should  mean  for  man — 
the  devotion  of  his  life  in  service. 


LAW  OF  SERVICE  AND  SACRIFICE         119 

Giving  Is  Getting. — Such  devotion  will  sometimes  mean 
death,  as  it  did  with  Jesus.  And  yet  it  is  life,  and  not  loss, 
that  Jesus  has  in  mind.  "Whosoever  would  save  his  Life 
shall  lose  it;  and  whosoever  shall  lose  his  life  for  my  sake 
and  the  gospel's  shall  save  it."  The  way  of  life  is  not  by 
saving  but  by  giving.  This  is  paradox  and  yet  simple 
truth.  The  giving  that  Jesus  asks  is  a  giving  to  service, 
a  dedication  of  life  to  a  high  end.  Where  does  such  giving 
lead?  First  of  all  it  leads  to  God.  Sacrifice  and  giving 
are  his  nature,  and  only  those  who  love  and  give  can  know 
him.  But  all  who  do  so  are  led  into  the  depths  of  his  life, 
they  become  the  friends  of  God,  His  secrets  are  open  to 
them,  his  purpose  for  the  world.  His  spirit  fills  them,  his 
love  and  patience  and  pity.  And  that  is  life.  Such  sacri- 
ficial dedication  leads  also  to  the  closest  fellowship  with 
men.  And  this  too  is  life.  There  is,  indeed,  only  one  life 
that  is  life,  and  that  is  love,  the  hfe  of  fellowship  with 
men  and  God.  To  possess  things  is  not  life,  to  have  power 
is  not  life,  to  know  many  facts  is  not  life.  Now,  the 
sacrifice  that  Jesus  asks  is  simply  a  giving  ourselves  to  his 
end  of  serving  men.  Such  giving  is  not  loss,  but  simply 
the  beginning  of  real  living. 

"For  life,  with  all  its  yields  of  joy  and  woe, 
And  hope  and  fear,  .  .   . 
Is  just  our  chance  o'  the  prize  of  learning  love." 

Equally  plain  is  it  that  the  life  that  grasps  and  holds  is 
on  the  way  to  death.  Saving  is  losing.  The  self-centered 
life  is  the  dying  life,  choked  with  its  own  wealth,  crushed 
beneath  its  own  possessions.  The  walls  of  selfishness  that 
men  rear  to  preserve  their  goods  become  the  living  tomb 
within  which  selfish  souls  waste  and  shrivel  and  die. 


The  Principle  of  Service  To-Bay 

Service  in  Christian  Missions. — There  is  nothing  that 
marks  off  Christianity  more  sharply  from  non-Christian 
religions  than  its  ideal  of  service.  When  Christianity 
enters  a  new  field  it  comes  to  serve.     That  service  goes 


120  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

out  to  all  men.  The  Chinese  coolie  feels  it  and  the  poor 
outcast  of  India,  the  man  whom  the  high  class  Brahmin 
would  not  for  all  the  world  so  much  as  touch,  and  whose 
very  shadow  would  spell  pollution.  For  the  Christian  all 
these  men  are  but  brothers  to  be  served.  And  that  service 
reaches  all  life.  Where  the  church  goes  hospitals  and 
dispensaries  spring  up;  the  story  of  Christian  healing 
round  the  world  is  a  page  from  heaven's  own  book  of  light 
that  shines  against  the  dark  background  of  greed  which 
has  been  exploiting  the  weaker  races  of  the  world.  There 
are  schools,  too,  to  liberate  men's  minds,  and  sanitation, 
and  better  knowledge  of  agriculture  and  industry,  and  a 
respect  for  human  life,  and  new  ideals  of  home  and  woman. 
And  the  Church  of  our  own  land  is  coming  constantly 
closer  to  this  new  ideal  of  Jesus :  not  to  be  ministered  unto 
but  to  minister,  and  to  give  its  life  for  its  communit}^  and 
the  world. 

The  Ideal  of  Service  in  Modern  Life. — More  wonderful 
still  is  the  way  in  which  Jesus'  ideal  of  service  has  molded 
the  common  thought  of  men.  Ex-President  Eoosevelt 
made  telling  reference  to  this  change  a  few  years  ago  in 
an  address  in  Europe.  When  a  Eoman  governor  went  out 
to  rule  a  province,  he  said,  everybody  expected  liim  to 
plunder  the  people  and  amass  a  fortune  in  the  few  years 
of  his  office.  Now,  he  declared,  we  demand  of  every  official 
that  he  be  first  of  all  a  servant.  When  King  George  of 
England  was  crowned  in  1911  in  one  of  the  most  stately 
and  magnificent  ceremonials  that  the  world  has  ever  seen, 
the  Archbishop  of  York  preached  the  sermon.  And  the 
words  of  his  text,  spoken  straight  at  the  royal  couple  that 
sat  before  him,  were  the  royal  words  of  Jesus:  "I  am  in 
the  midst  of  you  as  one  that  serveth." 

The  Aristocracy  of  Service. — We  live  in  an  age  of  de- 
mocracy, a  democracy  that  is  entering  the  last  strongholds 
of  absolutism.  And  yet  what  we  are  doing  is  not  so  much  to 
get  rid  of  our  nobility  as  to  change  it.  Once  nobility  was 
the  accident  of  birth,  and  in  the  form  of  inherited  wealth 
that  is  still  partly  true.  In  our  own  day  there  is  an  ^^upper 
class"  of  men  whose  title  to  that  place  rests  simply  upon 


LAW  OF  SERVICE  A:N'D  SACEIFICE         121 

superior  cleverness  or  nithlessness.  But  all  that  is  chang- 
ing. Our  new  nobility  is  coming  to  be  more  and  more  the 
nobility  for  which  men  qualify  by  service  to  their  kind. 
We  may  count  in  that  class  a  cobbler  like  William  Carey, 
or  a  black  man  like  Booker  T.  Washington,  or  a  poor  immi- 
grant boy  like  Jacob  Eiis;  but  wealth  as  such  or  title  as 
such  wins  no  man  a  place  in  its  ranks.  Once  men  wrote 
in  the  hall  of  fame  the  names  of  kings  and  conquerors 
who  marched  to  greatness  over  the  prostrate  forms  of  their 
fellows.  But  those  letters  are  tarnishing  now.  "There  is 
a  patriciate  even  in  democratic  America,"  said  President 
Wilson  not  long  since.  "We  reserve  the  word  'honored' 
for  those  who  are  great,  but  spend  their  greatness  upon 
others  rather  than  upon  themselves.  You  do  not  erect 
statues  to  men  who  served  only  themselves.'' 

Directions  foe  Study 

Read  the  Scripture  references:  Mark  10.  35-45;  Luke  10.  25- 
37;  Mark  9.  37-42;  Matthew  25.  31-46;  Mark  8.  31-37. 

Review  the  life  of  Jesus  as  a  life  of  service,  calling  to  mind 
as  far  as  you  can  the  different  kinds  of  people  whom  he  served 
and  the  different  kinds  of  service  that  he  rendered. 

Next  consider  the  place  which  Jesus  gives  to  service  in  his 
idea  of  religion.  It  is  the  supreme  demand  made  upon  his 
disciples,  it  is  the  link  that  should  bind  them  with  others, 
and  it  is  the  final  test  in  judgment. 

Consider  the  question  how  men  can  serve  God.  If  God  cares 
most  for  the  welfare  of  his  children,  as  such  a  Father  would, 
then  what  sort  of  service  will  he  want  from  us? 

In  studying  the  principle  of  sacrifice,  consider  how  much 
of  the  highest  good  of  this  world  has  come  by  this  road.  What 
do  these  words  suggest  to  you :  prophet,  martyr,  patriot,  friend, 
mother,  Christ? 


CHAPTEK  XIY 

THE  LAW  OF  BROTHERHOOD  AND  THE 
NATIONS 

We  have  studied  the  law  of  brotherhood  so  far  as  it  ap- 
plies to  individual  relations.  Now  we  face  larger  and 
more  difficult  questions.  What  does  this  law  mean  for  our 
social  problems?  Here  are  three  outstanding  questions  of 
our  time :  industrial  justice,  race  prejudice,  and  war.  Has 
Jesus  any  answer  for  these  matters?  In  this  chapter  we 
inquire  what  his  message  is  for  the  nations  and  concerning 
war. 

Some  Objections 

Is  There  One  Law  for  Individuals  and  Nations  ? — There 
are  those  who  declare  at  the  outset  that  the  law  for  in- 
dividuals cannot  apply  to  the  nations.  The  nation  must 
demand  love  and  loyalty,  service  and  sacrifice  from  each 
individual.  But  the  nation  itself  is  above  such  law;  its 
duty  is  to  assert  itself  against  all  others  and  for  its  own 
people.  One  writer  has  put  it  thus:  "Christian  morality 
is  based  on  the  law  of  love.  Love  God  above  all  tilings, 
and  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.  This  law  can  claim  no  signifi- 
cance for  the  relations  of  one  country  to  another,  since 
its  application  to  politics  would  lead  to  a  conflict  of  duties. 
The  love  which  a  man  showed  to  another  country  as  such 
would  imply  a  want  of  love  for  his  own  countrymen.  Such 
a  system  of  politics  must  inevitably  lead  men  astray.  Chris- 
tian morality  is  personal  and  social,  and  in  its  nature  can- 
not be  political.  Its  aim  is  to  promote  morality  of  the 
individual,  in  order  to  strengthen  him  to  work  unselfishly 
in  the  interests  of  the  community.^' 

We  Cannot  Be  Half  Christian  and  Half  Pagan. — Such 
words  are  pagan,  but  unfortunately  they  express  the  prin- 

122 


BEOTHERHOOD  AND  THE  NATIONS       123 

ciple  that  has  actually  governed  most  nations  in  the  past. 
Two  points  must  be  made  in  reply.  First,  we  cannot  be 
half  Christian  and  half  pagan  in  our  life.  The  state  can- 
not say  to  the  people,  '"You  follow  the  Christian  law  of 
love  and  I  Vvdll  follow  the  pagan  law  of  selfishness." 
Second:  We  cannot  be  half  Christian  and  half  pagan  in 
our  faith.  If  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
be  not  God  of  the  whole  earth,  then  he  is  no  God  for  us 
at  all.  But  if  this  God  of  love  be  God  of  all,  then  his  law 
of  love  must  rule  all,  and  principalities  and  powers  must 
own  it  as  well  as  individual  men. 

Has  Jesus  Any  Message  on  the  Nation? — More  serious 
would  seem  to  be  the  fact  that  Jesus  has  no  teaching  about 
the  nation  or  patriotism  or  war  or  international  peace. 
That  is  true,  nor  does  he  discuss  the  problem  of  slavery 
or  the  woman  question  or  the  rights  of  labor.  All  this, 
however,  does  not  disqualify  him  as  guide.  What  we  wish 
to  know  is  this:  Has  Jesus  those  fundamental  principles 
which  can  be  applied  to  these  questions?  In  our  study  we 
must  not  wrest  the  words  of  Jesus  and  give  them  meanings 
that  they  did  not  have  in  his  mind.  When  Jesus  said, 
"Peace  I  leave  with  you,"  and  again,  "I  came  not  to  bring 
peace,  but  a  sword,"  he  was  not  siding  now  with  pacifist 
and  now  with  militarist.  But  we  do  need  to  ask  what  his 
fundamental  teachings  about  God  and  man  mean  as  ap- 
plied to  these  matters. 

Some  Teachings  of  Jesus 

One  Father  and  One  Brotherhood. — Turning  to  Jesus' 
teachings  now,  we  do  not  search  for  any  new  passages  but 
only  for  the  larger  meaning  of  those  that  we  have  already 
considered.  Here  is  Matthew  5.  43-48.  The  God  of  all 
the  earth  is  a  God  of  good  will.  Good  will  belongs  thus 
to  the  very  heart  of  the  world  and  underlies  all  its  life. 
So  it  becomes  the  rule  for  all  life,  least  and  greatest,  and 
there  can  be  no  other.  Matthew  23.  8-12  applies  in  the 
same  way  to  nations  as  to  individuals.  There  is  only  one 
Master — not  Mars,  but  Christ.    There  is  only  one  Father — 


124  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

not  of  America  nor  of  England  nor  of  Germany,  but  that 
God  who  is  the  Father  of  all  men  equally.  And  there  is 
one  brotherhood — not  that  of  fellow  Americans  but  that 
of  fellow  men,  the  sons  of  this  one  Father. 

The  Stewardship  of  Nations. — In  at  least  two  passages 
Jesus  specifically  opposes  the  idea  that  a  nation  is  a  law 
to  itself,  and  makes  plain  that  the  nation,  like  the  individ- 
ual, is  under  the  law  of  stewardship  and  service.  A  few 
of  the  prophets  of  Israel  had  seen  this  great  truth,  and 
it  was  one  of  these  that  Jesus  quoted  when  he  drove  the 
traders  from  the  temple.  Israel  was  following  this  law 
of  national  selfishness;  she  looked  on  the  temple  as  her 
own  possession,  for  her  own  use  and  glor}\  And  Jesus 
quotes  the  word  of  the  prophet :  "My  house  shall  be  called 
a  house  of  prayer  for  all  the  nations."  We  recognize  the  fact 
everywhere  to-day,  not  only  in  the  church  but  in  the  state, 
that  a  man's  possessions  are  his  in  trust.  He  must  use 
them  for  his  family,  for  the  state,  for  God.  But  a  nation's 
possessions  are  just  as  truly  a  sacred  trust.  In  this  year 
of  1918,  God  is  saying  to  America:  You  have  no  right  to 
call  your  possessions  your  own.  Save  at  your  own  table, 
and  use  your  wheat  fields  to  feed  the  world.  Count  your 
liberty  not  as  a  selfish  possession,  but  use  your  strength 
to  help  democracy  to  live  in  the  world,  and  to  insure  a 
lasting  peace  among  men.  Israel  boasted  of  her  temple  and 
used  it  for  herself.  We  are  no  less  guilty  if  we  boast  of 
wealth  or  safety  or  liberty,  and  use  these  only  for  our- 
selves. Israel  went  down  as  a  nation  because  she  was  not 
true  to  this  trust.  This  also  Jesus  clearly  declared  (Mat- 
thew 21.  33-43,  especially  43).  Has  any  nation  to-day  the 
right  to  expect  exemption  from  such  responsibility  or  such 
retribution  ? 

C^SAR  OR  Christ 

The  Failure  of  Paganism. — One  thing  should  be  wholly 
clear  to-day,  and  that  is  the  failure  of  the  pagan  princi- 
ples which  the  nations  have  been  so  largely  following. 
These  are  the  law  of  selfishness  and  the  use  of  cunning 
and  force.     We  have  recognized  the  practical  value   of 


BROTHERHOOD  AND  THE  NATIONS       125 

brotherhood,  of  peace  and  mutual  helpfulness,  among  in- 
dividuals. In  this  country  we  have  applied  it  to  a  great 
federation  of  states,  some  of  them  comparable  in  size  to 
countries  like  Germany,  France,  and  Italy.  But  for  the 
most  part  each  nation  has  looked  upon  every  other  as 
rival,  if  not  enemy,  uniting  in  alliances  only  for  a  period 
until  it  could  bring  to  terms  some  other  power  that  it 
feared  still  more.  The  result  has  been  destructive  rivalries, 
intolerable  military  burdens,  and  at  length  as  the  natural 
and  necessary  result  of  it  all  the  great  world  war.  With 
the  issue  of  the  conflict  still  undecided,  one  thing  is  clear : 
whichever  side  will  win,  all  sides  will  suffer  loss.  It  is  not 
simply  the  terrible  loss  of  life  and  money.  There  is  the 
harvest  of  the  crippled,  the  orphaned,  the  widowed;  the 
decreased  birth  rate,  the  increased  death  rate,  even  at  home ; 
the  terrible  growth  of  tuberculosis,  and  in  some  countries  of 
typhus  and  cholera.  Sexual  immorality  grows,  and  moral 
standards  are  lowered.  Crime  increases  among  children. 
Standards  of  living  fall.  Family  life  suffers.  All  the  re- 
sources of  men  and  money  are  drawn  from  the  great  tasks 
of  education  and  social  betterment  and  human  upbuilding 
and  devoted  to  the  one  end,  of  making  the  most  effective 
machine  for  the  killing  of  our  fellow  men.  And  after  the 
war  is  done,  its  burdens  remain  for  long  years  to  keep  men 
back  from  the  real  work  of  human  progress.  No  one 
should  close  his  eyes  to  the  wonderful  devotion  and  heroism 
which  the  war  has  called  forth,  nor  to  the  large  vision  and 
high  ideals  with  which  leaders  like  President  Wilson  have 
sought  to  animate  a  people  that  has  been  forced  into  con- 
flict and  is  fighting  for  a  righteous  cause.  There  are 
many  benefits,  too,  for  which  we  are  not  directly  fighting, 
that  will  come  from  the  great  struggle.  But  all  this  must 
not  blind  us  to  the  terrible  meaning  of  war  itself,  nor  make 
us  forget  that  our  one  great  object  is  to  destroy  war  itself. 
For  it  is  the  spirit  of  militarism,  the  confidence  in  war 
and  the  glorification  of  war,  which  has  plunged  the  world 
into  this  tragedy,  and  it  is  that  pagan  spirit  that  must  be 
defeated  and  destroyed  before  we  can  have  a  world  of  right- 
eousness and  peace. 


126  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

The  World  Is  One. — Meanwhile  there  has  been  another 
tendency  at  work.  Brotherhood  is  not  merely  a  command 
of  God.  It  is  a  principle  which  is  grounded  in  the  very 
nature  of  life.  The  life  of  the  world  is  one,  and  the 
farther  we  progress  the  more  clear  does  that  become.  No 
nation  lives  to  itself.  That  is  true  in  material  matters.  It 
is  folly  to  think  that  one  nation  can  profit  permanently 
by  the  injury  of  others.  In  higher  realms  it  is  even  more 
true.  Eeligion,  art,  letters,  science,  these  know  no  national 
borders.  They  belong  to  one  world,  and  are  for  the  good 
of  all.  The  law  of  strife  brings  a  temporary  advantage 
to  the  strong  or  fortunate.  The  savage  may  kill  liis  neigh- 
bor and  take  the  other^s  weapon  and  booty,  but  the  richer 
life  of  man  has  come  only  as  men  have  learned  to  work  to- 
gether. We  have  worked  out  the  problem  of  peace  and 
common  interest  and  cooperation  within  the  community 
and  the  nation ;  we  must  now  work  it  out  in  the  company 
of  the  nations.  The  nations  have  tried  Cffisar,  they  must 
now  turn  to  Christ. 

The  New  Nationalism 

New  Ideals  and  Old. — What  does  this  mean  for  Amer- 
ica? It  means  first  of  all  a  new  nationalism.  The  old 
nationalism  said,  "Our  country,  right  or  wrong."  The 
new  nationalism  says,  "Our  country,  may  she  always  be 
right;  but  if  she  be  not  right,  then  let  us  serve  her  by 
helping  to  right  her."  We  have  rightly  demanded  from 
foreigners  who  come  to  our  shores  an  undivided  allegiance, 
but  we  have  sometimes  forgotten  our  own  duty  to  give  them 
an  America  that  will  be  deserving  of  honor  as  well  as  of 
obedience.  We  must  make  an  America  that  shall  command 
the  respect  of  these  and  of  all  men,  that  shall  be  pure  in 
its  politics,  just  and  human  in  its  industrial  life,  and  that 
shall  put  the  power  of  government  at  the  service  of  the 
common  man. 

The  New  Patriotism. — Such  a  nationalism  will  demand 
a  larger  patriotism  than  before.  Across  the  seas  the  great 
war  has  brought  such  an  outburst  of  devotion  as  tlie  world 


BEOTHERHOOD  AND  THE  NATIONS       127 

has  never  witnessed  before.  Millions  of  men  have  ad- 
ventured their  lives  at  the  call  of  country.  Again  and 
again  they  have  flung  themselves  by  thousands  into  con- 
flicts from  which  they  knew  that  only  a  fraction  could  re- 
turn. And  now  American  soldiers  are  crossing  the  seas. 
We  have  patriotism  for  time  of  war,  will  we  show  it  in 
time  of  peace?  The  enemy  is  still  in  our  midst.  We  are 
fighting  for  democracy  and  liberty  across  the  seas,  but  we 
have  not  yet  fully  established  them  in  our  own  land.  In- 
dustrial injustice  on  the  one  side,  violence  and  murder  on 
the  other,  race  riots  and  bloodshed,  political  corruption, 
these  are  a  standing  challenge  to  the  new  patriotism.  What 
a  new  land  we  could  make  if  we  could  command  for  days  of 
peace  the  unity  and  enthusiasm  and  unselfish  devotion 
which  the  days  of  war  are  calling  forth ! 

The  New  Internationalism 

Our  Relation  to  Weaker  Nations. — What  do  these  prin- 
ciples of  fatherhood,  brotherhood,  and  national  steward- 
ship demand  of  us  in  our  relation  to  other  nations  ?  Cer- 
tainly a  new  internationalism,  and  first  of  all  in  relation 
to  weaker  peoples.  Toward  such  three  policies  are  pos- 
sible: we  may  use  them  for  our  advantage,  we  may  let 
them  alone,  or  we  may  protect  and  serve  them.  Our  past 
record  is  not  without  stain;  we  need  only  recall  our  early 
relations  with  Mexico  and  our  treatment  of  the  Indian. 
The  third  policy  is  the  only  Christian  one  and  is  avowedly 
ours  to-day.  Whether  we  stay  in  the  Philippines,  for  ex- 
ample, must  be  determined  not  by  our  desire  for  national 
profit  or  our  unwillingness  to  assume  responsibility,  but 
by  the  question  of  the  welfare  of  the  Filipinos. 

The  International  Mind. — In  respect  to  other  nations, 
also,  the  same  principle  of  brotherhood  must  govern  us. 
The  first  need  is  not  that  of  a  policy,  but  a  spirit,  the  "in- 
ternational mind."  That  mind  Jesus  must  give  us.  We 
must  listen  to  him  again  as  he  says,  "One  is  your  Father'' ; 
"all  ye  are  brethren."  We  must  see  that  that  which  unites 
us  as  men  is  far  greater  than  that  which  divides  us  as 


128  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

nations.  He  must  purify  us  from  every  trace  of  bitter- 
ness and  scorn  toward  other  peoples;  and  he  must  deliver 
us  from  the  selfishness  that  cannot  see  beyond  its  own 
borders. 

Negative  Virtue  Not  Enough. — Nor  can  the  nation  be 
content  with  a  merely  negative  attitude.  There  are  not 
a  few  people  whose  creed  is  summed  up  by  saying,  "Let 
us  keep  away  from  everybody,  that  we  may  keep  out  of 
war."  Now,  this  nation  does  not  desire  war  with  anyone, 
and  the  mass  of  its  people  have  good  will  for  all.  But 
brotherhood  is  not  isolation,  even  if  we  could  avert  all 
peril  of  war  in  this  way.  There  are  other  evils  besides 
war.  There  are  other  obligations  upon  a  Christian  nation 
than  merely  that  of  saving  itself.  True  peace  can  come 
only  with  righteousness,  and  righteousness  and  peace  will 
come  only  as  the  great  nations  of  the  earth  move  beyond 
the  stage  of  selfish  aggression  or  selfish  indifference  to  a 
positive  cooperation  for  common  ends.  And  one  of  the 
first  ends  of  such  common  effort  must  be  the  guarding  of 
the  weak  and  helpless  against  the  exploitation  of  the 
strong. 

Christianity  and  War 

May  a  Christian  Nation  Use  Force  ? — Is  it  ever  right  for 
a  Christian  nation  to  bear  arms?  Is  it  ever  right  for  a 
nation  to  use  force  ?  Can  there  be  such  a  thing  as  a  Chris- 
tian war?  There  are  really  two  questions  involved,  and 
they  are  quite  different.  The  first  is  a  question  of  princi- 
ple: What  is  Jesus'  rule  of  life?  The  second  is  a  ques- 
tion of  practice:  How  shall  we  apply  it?  Now,  Jesus  has 
but  one  rule  of  life  for  nations  as  for  men,  and  that  is  the 
rule  of  love;  a  Christian  nation,  like  a  Christian  man, 
must  always  show  this  spirit.  Our  problem  lies  in  the 
second  question :  Does  the  practice  of  love  ever  demand  or 
permit  the  use  of  force?  The  answer  to  this  may  best  be 
given  in  the  following  propositions. 

1.  Sometimes  force  must  be  used  with  individuals  for 
their  own  sake  as  well  as  for  the  sake  of  others.  A  child 
must  be  kept  back  from  the  fire,  an  insane  man  must  be 


BEOTETERHOOD  AND  THE  NATIONS       129» 

guarded  in  an  asylum,  a  criminal  in  a  jail.  A  man  might 
need  to  strike  down  another  in  order  to  protect  child  or 
woman  against  drunken  frenzy  or  lust.  In  all  such  cases 
the  individual  restrained  is  not  a  full  moral  personality, 
and  cannot  be  dealt  with  purely  on  the  plane  of  reason* 
He  is,  however,  still  a  personal  being,  and  we  must  follow 
even  here  the  principle  of  good  will. 

2.  There  may  be  among  nations  also,  as  among  individ- 
uals, the  submoral  or  imperfectly  developed.  They  may 
be  backward  races,  or  those  misled  by  wrong  leaders  or 
wrong  ideals.  So  long  as  such  are  present,  rational  means 
may  sometimes  fail,  and  a  state  may  need  to  use  force  in 
self-defense  or  in  aid  of  others. 

3.  There  is  grave  danger  in  the  use  of  such  force  and, 
indeed,  in  its  possession.  Nations  may  be  like  bulHes,  im- 
posing upon  others  simply  because  they  have  big  fists. 
The  cure  for  tliis  in  each  case  is  not  to  lay  aside  the  in- 
strument of  power,  but  to  gain  that  spirit  and  that  moral 
strength  that  will  cause  the  power  to  be  rightly  used.  It 
is  exactly  the  same  kind  of  temptation  that  assails  individ- 
ual men  because  they  have  power  (for  example,  in  the  in- 
dustrial world),  or  that  comes  with  wealth,  as  Jesus  so 
often  pointed  out. 

4.  Side  by  side  with  military  preparation  must  go  an- 
other and  higher  preparation.  Here  is  the  task  of  church 
and  school  in  particular.  We  must  develop  in  our  people 
a  spirit  of  love  and  good  will  toward  others,  a  broad  un- 
derstanding, a  passion  for  righteousness.  We  must  seek 
deliverance  from  aU  hatred  and  prejudice,  from  false 
ideals  of  national  glory,  from  all  desire  for  conquest.  Side 
by  side  we  must  cultivate  a  national  mind  that  is  Chris- 
tian in  spirit  and  ideals,  and  an  international  mind  that 
is  big  enough  to  care  for  the  weal  of  other  peoples  and 
strong  enough  to  insist  that  our  own  land  shall  always 
stand  for  the  right. 

5.  The  use  of  force  is  always  provisional  and  temporary. 
It  marks  a  lower  stage.  It  is  to  be  used  as  little  as  pos- 
sible, and  to  be  given  up  as  soon  as  possible.  We  may  have 
to  shut  up  a  criminal  by  force,  but  the  real  work  of  making 


130  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

a  man  of  him  must  be  done  by  moral  influences.  The 
new  life  of  the  world,  in  which  the  nations  shall  dwell  in 
peace  and  righteousness,  in  wliich  the  welfare  of  each  shall 
be  the  concern  of  all,  will  come  not  by  armies  and  navies, 
but  by  a  growing  spirit  of  good  will  and  righteousness. 

Directions  foe  Study 

Read  the  Scripture  references:  Matthew  5.  43-48;  Mark  11. 
15-18;  Matthew  23.  8-12;  21.  33-43. 

Review  Jesus'  teaching  about  brotherhood,  noting  carefully 
the  different  principles  that  have  been  discussed  as  involved 
in  this. 

Now  consider  the  objections  applying  to  the  use  of  the  rule 
of  brotherhood  for  the  nations.  There  are  others  that  will 
easily  occur  to  you.  Do  not  some  of  these  rest  upon  the  mis- 
conception that  regard  for  others  means  having  no  regard  for 
yourself,  or  that  love  is  a  blind  rule  to  be  used  without  reason? 

Taking  Jesus'  principles  one  by  one,  ask  yourself  what  they 
would  mean  for  this  country  in  relation  to  others.  Remember 
that  men  may  share  the  same  Christian  principles  and  yet 
differ  widely  when  it  comes  to  application  in  definite  policies. 

Finally,  consider  what  Jesus'  principles  suggest  as  regards 
a  right  Ideal  of  our  own  nation  and  our  relation  to  it. 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE  DISCIPLE  AND  THE  WOELD 

We  have  studied  Jesus'  thought  of  God  and  man.  We 
have  now  to  take  up  his  teaching  concerning  the  world. 
How  did  he  think  of  this  world?  What  was  to  be  the 
attitude  of  his  disciples  toward  this  world?  How  were 
they  to  live  in  it  ? 

Opposing  Views 

The  Love  of  the  World. — It  wiU  help  us  to  understand 
Jesus'  teaching  here  if  we  first  consider  two  notable  atti- 
tudes toward  the  world  which  men  have  held.  There  is 
first  of  all  the  love  of  the  world.  Sometimes  it  appears 
as  a  j^hilosophy  of  life  and  then  we  call  it  secularism.  As 
such  it  declares  that  the  only  real  world  is  the  world  of 
sense  and  time,  therefore  we  should  live  for  this  world 
and  get  out  of  it  all  that  we  can.  More  often  worldliness 
is  simply  a  spirit,  absorbed  either  in  trying  to  get  pos- 
session of  things  or  trying  to  enjoy  tliem.  In  either  case, 
the  world  of  tilings  is  alone  real  and  good. 

The  Fear  of  the  World. — Directly  opposed  to  this  is  the 
attitude  of  those  for  whom  the  world  is  wholly  evil.  It 
is  not  simply  that  they  realize  that  there  is  evil  in  the 
world.  The  world  itself  is  evil,  it  is  the  kingdom  of  the 
devil.  The  natural  appetites,  social  pleasures,  business 
activities,  political  activities — these  are  sometimes  con- 
sidered as  actually  evil;  oftener  they  are  viewed  as  not 
necessarily  evil  but  as  having  no  moral  or  spiritual  mean- 
ing. One  fruit  of  this  theory  is  seen  in  monasticism,  where 
men  flee  the  world  to  find  God.  The  Roman  Catholic  use 
of  the  word  "religious"  is  suggestive  here.^  When  the 
Roman  Church  speaks  of  "the  religious,"  it  always  means 

^See  The  Catholic  Encyclopedia,  article,  "  Religious  Life." 

131 


132  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

the  monks  and  nuns,  those  who  have  fled  the  world.  Of 
course  it  is  not  merely  the  privileges  of  the  world  but  its 
duties  as  well  that  are  avoided,  the  obligations  to  home  and 
state  and  the  world  of  industry.  Common  folks,  no  mat- 
ter how  faithfully  and  purely  they  live,  are  considered  as 
being  upon  a  lower  plane  because  they  do  business  and 
own  property  and  marry  and  establish  homes.  The  Prot- 
estant Church  too  is  not  free  from  this  idea.  It  appears 
with  people  who  divide  the  world  into  sacred  and  secular, 
who  are  suspicious  of  play  and  j^leasure,  who  think  of  this 
world  as  the  deviFs  and  cannot  find  God  in  its  great  move- 
ments. 

God's  Woeld 

No  Fear  of  the  World. — It  is  a  very  different  opinion 
that  we  find  with  Jesus.  First  of  all,  he  rebukes  by  his 
teaching  and  life  those  who  fear  the  world  or  scorn  it,  and 
flee  it.  For  him  it  is  the  Father^s  world,  not  the  devil's, 
and  he  has  no  fear.  He  prays  to  his  Father  as  "Lord  of 
heaven  and  earth."  This  Father  arrays  the  flowers  in 
beauty,  and  gives  the  birds  their  food.  There  is  evil  in 
the  world;  he  does  not  explain  it,  but  he  knows  that  it 
is  being  overcome.  He  himself  heals  men  and  casts  out 
demons  "by  the  finger  of  God."  And  so  he  walks  through 
the  world  as  through  his  Father's  house,  with  confidence 
(Matthew  6.  26-30;  10.  29-31). 

No  Flight  from  the  World. — Jesus  was  no  ascetic.  The 
Gospel  pages  reflect  his  simple  pleasure  in  the  beauties  of 
nature,  the  flowers,  the  birds,  the  sprouting  grain,  the 
bending  harvest,  the  glowing  skies.  Nor  did  he  refuse  the 
simple  joys  of  human  relations.  He  loved  companions,  and 
had  his  special  friends.  He  was  a  guest  in  men's  homes, 
and  he  did  not  shun  their  feasts.  His  enemies,  indeed, 
contrasted  him  here  with  John  the  Baptist  (Matthew  11. 
18, 19),  As  Jesua  did  not  fear  the  world,  so  he  did  not  flee 
it.  He  goes  apart  to  pray,  but  he  will  not  build  taber- 
nacles upon  the  mountaintop  and  stay  there.  He  comes 
back  from  the  wilderness  to  the  crowded  haunts  of  men. 
He  is  not  afraid  of  tlie  rich,  and  does  not  refuse  their 


THE  DISCIPLE  AXD  THE  WORLD  133 

hospitality  (Luke  14.  1).  He  even  invites  himself  to  the 
home  of  a  man  who  represents  what  we  to-day  call  "pre- 
datory wealth^'  (Luke  19.  2,  5).  Nor  does  he  hesitate  to 
take  from  the  rich  gifts  for  his  ovna  need  (Luke  8.  1-3). 

Jesus^  Woeds  about  Wealth 

Warnings  and  Condemnation, — But  if  Jesus  is  not  an 
ascetic,  he  is  even  farther  removed  from  worldliness.  The 
love  of  the  world  he  condemned  equally  with  the  fear  of 
the  world.  We  must  turn  first  to  Jesus^  statements  con- 
cerning riches.  When  one  considers  their  number,  and  how 
strong  and  sweeping  they  are,  one  realizes  that  teachers 
and  preachers  have  passed  them  over  all  too  lightly  in  the 
past.  We  hear  him  say :  "Lay  not  up  for  yourselves  treas- 
ures upon  the  earth."  "Ye  cannot  serve  God  and  mam- 
mon" (Matthew  6.  19,  24).  "How  hardly  shall  they  that 
have  riches  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  Gk)d !"  "It  is  easier 
for  a  camel  to  go  through  a  needle's  eye,  than  for  a  rich 
man  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God"  (Mark  10.  23, 
25).  Notice  the  pictures  which  the  Gospels  give  of  rich 
men.  There  are  three  of  these.  One  is  from  life,  the 
young  man  whose  noble  enthusiasm  and  high  purpose 
dropped  to  a  pitiful  conclusion,  who  "went  away  sorrow- 
ful :  for  he  was  one  that  had  great  possessions"  (Mark  10. 
17-22).  The  other  two  Jesus  drew.  There  is  "a  certain 
rich  man,"  selfish  and  indifferent  to  others  in  this  life, 
yonder  in  torment.  And  there  is  the  rich  farmer,  so  wise 
and  prudent  in  his  own  eyes,  so  pitiably  foolish  in  the 
eyes  of  God. 

Not  Rules,  but  the  Spirit. — What  is  Jesus'  teaching 
here  ?  It  is  easy  to  say  that  Jesus  condemns  all  wealth,  all 
property  even,  as  iniquity,  that  for  those  who  will  be  "per- 
fect" the  only  rule  is  poverty.  But  certain  things  are  to 
be  remembered.  Jesus  did  not  ask  the  wealthy  Zacch^us 
to  sell  all  that  he  had,  nor  did  he  require  it  of  those  weU- 
to-do  friends  who  ministered  to  him.  It  was  not  by  rules 
that  men  were  to  be  saved,  but  by  a  new  spirit.  It  is  not 
wealth  or  poverty  as  such  that  Jesus  is  concerned  about. 


134  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

but  the  life  of  God  in  man,  and  that  appears  when  we 
study  these  sayings  more  closely. 

What  Jesus  Teaches 

A  False  Philosophy  Condemned. — First  of  all,  Jesus  is 
condemning  a  wrong  philosophy  of  life.  It  was  a  philoso- 
phy common  then  as  it  is  now.  The  rich  farmer  is  the 
great  example.  For  some  men  the  problem  of  life  centers 
in  things ;  to  have  money,  land,  stocks,  houses,  automobiles 
— this  is  the  great  end;  to  lack  them  is  the  great  misfor- 
tune. It  is  not  really  a  question  of  rich  or  poor  here;  the 
poor  in  his  envy  and  fear  and  anxiety  may  be  as  much  of 
a  sinner,  or  a  fool,  as  the  rich  man  in  his  possessions. 
Once  for  all  Jesus  branded  that  delusion:  ''A  man's  life 
consisteth  not  in  the  abundance  of  the  things  which  he 
possesseth"  (Luke  12.  15). 

It  is  interesting  to  hear  the  echo  of  Jesus'  words  from 
such  a  man  as  the  late  William  James,  of  Harvard :  "When 
one  sees  the  way  in  which  wealth-getting  enters  as  an  ideal 
into  the  very  bone  and  marrow  of  our  generation,  one 
wonders  whether  a  revival  of  the  belief  that  poverty  is  a 
worthy  religious  vocation  may  not  be  the  spiritual  reform 
which  our  time  stands  most  in  need  of.  We  have  grown 
literally  afraid  to  be  poor.  The  desire  to  gain  wealth  and 
the  fear  to  lose  it  are  our  chief  breeders  of  cowardice  and 
propagators  of  corruption.  We  despise  anyone  who  elects 
to  be  poor  in  order  to  simplify  and  save  his  inner  life. 
The  prevalent  fear  of  poverty  among  the  educated  classes 
is  the  worst  moral  disease  from  which  our  civilization 
suffers." 

Pitying  and  Warning. — In  the  second  place,  Jesus  is 
pointing  out  the  actual  danger  in  wliich  rich  men  stand. 
It  has  been  said  that  Jesus  belonged  to  the  party  of  the 
2)Oor.  That  is  not  true.  He  belonged  to  men,  not  to  any 
party.  He  showed  one  spirit  toward  all :  the  spirit  of  love. 
He  had  plainly  a  deep  sympathy  for  the  poor.  He  was 
himself  a  laboring  man,  and  he  flames  at  times  with  true 
prophetic  passion  against  those  that  mislead  or  oppress  the 


THE  DISCIPLE  AND  THE  WOKLD         135 

lowly.  But  his  pity  is  for  all  men.  It  is  a  mark  of  Ms 
greatness  that  he  could  pity  even  the  rich. 

Divided  Allegiance. — The  first  demand  of  his  higher 
life  was  a  single  loyalty.  A  man  must  love  God  with  all 
his  heart,  must  seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his 
righteousness.  The  rich  men  whom  he  saw  were  men  of 
divided  allegiance.  The  young  ruler  wanted  to  be  good, 
and  wished  it  sincerely.  But  that  was  not  enough  for 
Jesus.  "You  want  eternal  life ;  how  much  do  you  want  it  ?" 
With  most  men  nothing  acts  more  powerfully  to  divide 
the  mind  and  seduce  it  from  high  desire  than  wealth. 

The  Danger  of  Pride. — A  second  danger  of  wealth  is 
pride  and  self-sufficiency.  The  rich  man  finds  himself 
envied  of  others,  a  most  subtle  kind  of  flattery.  He  finds 
himself  consulted,  deferred  to,  respected,  or  at  least  feared. 
He  knows  the  power  of  his  wealth;  it  secures  the  service 
of  men,  and  commands  those  goods  that  all  men  seem  to  be 
striving  for.  Everything  conspires  to  make  the  rich  man 
self-appreciative  and  self-satisfied.  But  all  this,  as  Jesus 
saw,  strikes  at  the  very  root  of  the  higher  life.  It  is  the  poor 
in  spirit  that  receive  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  It  is  the 
meek  that  inherit  the  earth.  Those  that  hunger  and  thirst 
are  filled.  Men  gather  possessions,  but  inner  treasures  dis- 
appear— the  high  ideals  and  noble  aims  with  which  youth 
started  out.  And  these  men  accept  the  world^s  judgment 
and  imagine  they  are  rich.  That  is  the  "deceitfulness  of 
riches''  (Matthew  13.  22;  Luke  12.  19). 

Hardness  and  Selfishness. — A  third  danger  that  Jesus 
saw  was  that  of  hardness  and  selfishness.  That  is  what 
Dives  sets  forth,  and  the  brothers  of  Dives  are  still  on 
earth  and  still  "hear  not  Moses  and  the  prophets.''  It  is 
easy  for  the  rich  to  become  hard  and  suspicious.  They 
meet  the  clamor  for  aid  on  every  side.  Everybody  seems 
to  have  designs  upon  their  wealth.  They  themselves  are 
separated  from  real  want,  and  cannot  so  easily  feel  what 
it  means.  Their  very  conditions  conspire  to  kill  off  better 
impulses.  The  poor,  on  the  contrary,  are  close  to  want 
themselves,  and  their  sympathies  are  quick. 

Men  have  tried  to  whittle  away  the  meaning  of  Jesus' 


136  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

words  about  the  camel  and  the  needle's  eye.  Some  have 
changed  a  vowel  in  the  Greek  word  for  "camel,"  and  so 
have  made  it  mean  "rope."  Others  have  declared  that  the 
needle's  eye  was  the  little  gate  for  foot  passengers  that 
was  in  the  big  gate  of  the  city.  But  the  words  stand.  The 
rich  man  can  be  saved,  as  Jesus  went  on  to  declare,  but  he 
saw  how  hard  it  was. 

The  Christian  Man  in  the  World 

Simple  Enjoyment. — What,  then,  shall  be  the  attitude  of 
the  Christian  man  in  the  world?  (1)  There  will  be  a 
simple  wholesome  enjoyment  of  what  is  good,  looking  upon 
all  this  as  God's  gift  to  man.  W^e  are  coming  to  see  more 
and  more  the  Christian  meaning  of  natural  goods  such  as 
health  and  recreation  and  money.  So  far  from  being  evil 
in  itseK,  money  is  one  of  God's  great  instruments  when 
handed  over  to  his  use.  To  subdue  the  earth  and  make  it 
minister  to  us  is  a  Christian  task.  A  sufficient  income  is 
one  of  the  first  conditions  for  lifting  a  people  to  a  higher 
plane  of  living.  Eecreation  is  a  part  of  normal  human 
life  and  indispensable  for  education,  while  full  physical 
vigor  is  a  part  of  God's  purpose  for  men. 

Perfect  Independence. — (2)  There  will  be  perfect  inde- 
pendence of  soul.  The  highest  in  life  does  not  come  from 
money  or  any  of  these  other  gifts,  nor  can  their  lack  take 
it  away.  Instead  of  such  dependence  upon  uncertain  gifts, 
which  make  others  slaves  of  fear,  the  Christian  has  con- 
fidence that  what  he  needs  will  be  given  him  by  God. 

The  High  Aim. — (3)  The  Christian  aims  for  the  high- 
est. He  will  not  let  a  lesser  good  stand  in  the  place  of  a 
higher.  He  knows  that  the  good  may  become  the  enemy 
of  the  best.  Sometimes,  therefore,  he  will  renounce  the 
good  because  it  stands  in  the  way  of  the  best. 

Using  the  Lesser. —  (4)  More  often  the  Christian,  in- 
stead of  renouncing  the  lesser,  will  make  use  of  it  to  pro- 
mote the  liigher.  He  will  not  flee  the  world,  but  find  it, 
rather,  the  place  in  which  to  grow  strong  and  to  serve.  He 
will  learn  that  this  world,  with  its  wealth  and  poverty,  its 


THE  DISCIPLE  AND  THE  WORLD         137 

labor  and  joy,  its  temptations  and  its  encouragements,  is 
God^s  place  for  growing  men.  He  will  see  how  this  world 
brings  forth  industry  and  loyalty  and  strength.  He  will 
learn  how  to  be  strict  with  himself  and  magnanimous 
toward  others,  to  be  strong  and  yet  tender,  to  join  courage 
with  patience,  to  hate  all  evil  and  yet  love  all  men. 

Directions  for  Study 

Read  the  Scripture  references:  Matthew  6.  19-34;  Luke  12. 
13-21;  Mark  10.  17-27;  Luke  16.  19-31. 

Go  over  in  your  own  mind  the  life  of  Jesus.  What  was  his 
attitude  toward  nature?  toward  the  common  pleasures  of  life, 
especially  toward  social  pleasures? 

Now  consider  the  two  attitudes  first  discussed  in  the  lesson, 
and  see  whether  either  worldliness  or  otherworldliness  de- 
scribes Jesus. 

Recall,  however,  his  supreme  interest,  that  of  the  life  of  man 
with  God.  Is  not  this,  after  all,  a  right  kind  of  otherworldli- 
ness, since  it  lifts  a  man  above  all  the  limitations  of  this  world 
or  dependence  upon  its  goods? 

As  you  study  next  the  question  of  Jesus*  attitude  upon 
wealth,  read  first  of  all  his  words  upon  this  subject.  Are  they 
the  words  of  an  abstract  philosopher,  or  of  a  lover  of  men  who 
knows  the  real  world  and  is  trying  to  help  men? 

At  the  close,  try  to  put  constructively  the  principles  that 
you  think  should  govern  a  Christian  man  in  his  attitude  toward 
material  things. 

What  social  evils  of  to-day  come  from  the  greed  for  wealth? 

What  principles  should  be  followed  in  the  choice  of  our 
recreations? 


CHAPTER  XVI 

STEWAEDSHIP  AND  LIFE 

We  have  considered  Jesus'  teaching  about  the  world  and 
man's  relation  to  it.  It  is  God's  world  and  a  good  world. 
There  is  danger  in  its  gifts,  because  men  grasp  at  these 
things  as  ends  instead  of  means.  Nevertheless,  for  those 
who  see  God  and  follow  him  it  is  a  good  world,  a  world  in 
which  to  love  and  to  serve  and  to  develop  Christian  charac- 
ter. But  there  is  another  and  important  side  to  this  con- 
ception of  the  world.  We  shall  study  it  later  as  the  place 
in  which  God's  kingdom  is  to  be  established,  and  we  shall 
see  that  man  has  a  part  in  this.  That  part  we  now  begin 
to  study  under  the  theme  of  stewardship. 

Jesus'  Words  about  Stewaedship 

Words  from  the  Last  Days. — The  greatest  single  message 
concerning  stewardship  is  given  in  the  parable  of  the 
talents  (Matthew  25.  14-30).  It  was  spoken  during  the 
last  days  in  Jerusalem,  and  is  one  of  a  group  of  messages 
in  which  Jesus  enforces  upon  his  disciples  the  ideas  of 
watchfulness  and  faithfulness.  Here  belong  the  words 
concerning  faithful  and  faithless  servants  and  concerning 
wise  and  foolish  virgins  (Matthew  24.  45-51;  25.  1-13). 
At  that  time  Master  and  disciples  apparently  thought  that 
they  should  see  each  other  very  soon  again,  and  this  lent 
urgency  to  the  words.  The  disciples  were  servants  whom 
the  departing  Lord  was  intrusting  with  a  great  treasure 
and  a  great  responsibility,  and  he  bids  them  think  of  the 
time  of  accounting. 

Other  Teachings. — But  there  are  other  passages  which 
give  the  same  truth  and  which  are  scattered  throughout 

138 


STEWARDSHIP  AND  LIFE  139 

his  teaching.  He  told  them  the  story  of  the  unrighteous 
steward  (Luke  16.  1-13).  He  no  more  condoned  what  that 
unfaithful  servant  did  than  did  the  man^s  master.  But 
this  servant  was  an  example  in  one  point :  as  he  was  wise 
and  diligent  in  his  wickedness^  so  they  were  to  be  wise  and 
diligent  in  their  goodness.  It  is  not  enough  to  be  harmless 
as  doves,  they  must  also  be  wise  as  serpents  (Matthew  10. 
16).  They  are  the  salt  of  the  earth,  the  light  of  the  world. 
Salt  is  not  here  for  its  own  sake,  but  as  a  savor;  light  is 
not  here  for  itself,  but  to  give  light  to  others.  What  they 
are  is  not  enough,  but  what  they  do  and  count  for  (Mat- 
thew 5.  13-16).  In  these  and  in  other  teachings  Jesus 
brings  out  his  great  conception  of  life  whose  further  mean- 
ing we  now  consider. 

Two  Fundamental  Ppjnciples 

Not  Ownership,  but  Stewardship. — This  great  teaching 
can  be  put  in  two  propositions.  The  first  is  this :  all  that 
we  have  has  been  given  us  in  trust.  A  great  deal  has  been 
said  in  the  church  about  stewardship  in  our  day,  but  we 
are  still  far  from  grasping  the  radicalism  of  Jesus'  teach- 
ing. Most  men  draw  back  from  the  sweeping  proposition 
of  socialism,  which,  though  it  does  not  declare  against 
private  ownership  of  all  property,  yet  opposes  private 
ownership  of  the  means  of  production  and  distribution 
such  as  mines  and  fields  and  factories  and  railways.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  Jesus  goes  farther  than  that  here.  He 
declares  that  there  is  no  absolute  ownership  of  anything 
whatever.  Nothing  is  held  by  man  in  fee  simple — every- 
thing only  in  trust.  We  are  trustees,  and  never  absolute 
owners. 

Possession  Means  Obligation. — If  all  that  we  have  has 
been  given  us,  then  there  follows  the  second  proposition: 
all  that  we  have  we  owe.  For  paganism  property  means 
simply  power  and  privilege;  for  Jesus  it  means  trust  and 
responsibility.  We  are  familiar  with  these  pagan  cries  to- 
day, with  the  men  who  say,  "This  is  my  money,  I  shall  do 
with  it  what  I  will;  this  is  my  business,  and  no  one  is  to 


140  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

tell  me  how  to  nin  it."  From  the  standpoint  of  Jesus 
only  one  position  is  possible :  this  is  God^s  business,  and  I 
must  run  it  for  the  good  of  men.  Dives  was  probably  quite 
as  good  as  many  a  man  to-day  who  pays  his  debts  and 
keeps  the  law  (or  at  least  keeps  out  of  it  by  the  help  of 
his  lawyer),  who  indignantly  asserts  his  right  to  run  his 
own  business  and  spend  his  own  money,  and  who  leaves 
his  fortune  to  children  who  have  not  earned  it  and  are  not 
fitted  to  administer  it. 

Stewaedship  as  Broad  as  Life 

The  Stewardship  of  Truth. — Simple  as  these  proposi- 
tions are,  they  have  the  widest  meaning.  They  apply  to 
all  of  life.  It  is  unfortunate  that  with  many  people  steward- 
ship has  come  to  mean  simply  tithing.  Now  Jesus  refers 
to  tithing  only  once,  and  then  it  is  to  condemn  those  who 
followed  scrupulously  the  law  of  the  tithe  and  forgot 
greater  matters.  Stewardship  refers  to  all  that  a  man  is 
and  all  that  he  has,  for  there  is  not  one  thing  that  he  has 
not  gotten  from  God,  nor  one  thing  for  which  he  is  not 
responsible  to  God.  For  example,  the  disciples  had  a  great 
treasure  intrusted  to  them  in  the  teachings  of  Jesus.  You 
are  responsible  for  this  treasure,  Jesus  said;  from  it,  like 
a  good  householder  (steward),  you  are  to  bring  forth 
things  new  and  old  (Matthew  13.  51,  62).  It  is  this  stew- 
ardship of  truth  and  life  that  lies  back  of  Christian  mis- 
sions. Because  Christ  has  first  come  to  us,  we  are  to  go 
into  all  the  world  with  him  (Matthew  28.  16-20).  That 
is  why  we  are  to  confess  Christ  before  men  (Matthew  10. 
32,  33).  That  truth  lies  also  in  the  parable  of  the  sower. 
The  seed  of  the  truth  has  been  given  to  us;  we  must 
scatter  it,  and  not  hoard  it  (Mark  4.  1-9). 

The  Stewardship  of  Influence. — There  is  a  stewardship 
of  personal  influence.  The  question  of  character  is  not 
an  individual  matter.  We  must  be  for  the  sake  of  others. 
A  man's  character  is  a  vote  that  is  cast  every  day  for  good 
and  God,  or  against  them.  A  few  years  ago  President 
Gilman,  of  Johns  Hopkins,  wrote  an  interesting  article 


STEWAEDSHIP  AND  LIFE  141 

on  *^Five  Great  Gifts/^  He  began  with  George  Peabody, 
but  he  made  plain  that  greater  even  than  Mr.  Peabody^s 
benevolent  foundations,  which  are  still  working,  was  the 
good  that  his  examj^le  aceonij^lished.  Especially  in  the 
gifts  of  John  F.  Slater,  Johns  Hoi^kins,  and  Enoch  Pratt 
was  his  influence  directly  felt.  All  these  together  have 
in  turn  helped  to  influence  such  great  benefactions  as  are 
connected  with  the  names  of  Sage,  Eockefeller,  and  Car- 
negie. Even  more  suggestive  is  the  fact,  given  in  a  letter 
which  President  Gilman's  article  called  forth,  that  back 
of  Mr.  Peabody's  deed  was  the  influence  of  a  young  man, 
himself  without  wealth  or  fame,  who  persuaded  Mr.  Pea- 
body  to  this  step  and  outlined  its  plan. 

The  Stewardship  of  Time. — There  is  the  stewardship  of 
time.  There  is  no  more  interesting  chapter  in  modem  in- 
dustry than  the  story  of  those  by-products  which  often 
turn  the  scale  between  loss  and  profit  in  business.  So 
it  is  with  the  by-products  of  a  man's  life.  We  forget  that 
Paul's  business  was  tentmaking  and  that  his  missions  and 
his  letters  were  by-products.  William  Carey  was  a  cobbler, 
and  the  modern  foreign  missionary  movement  was  his  by- 
product. With  such  men  the  by-product  becomes  the 
real  business  of  life.  There  are  strong  capable  business 
men  to-day,  men  of  wealth  and  large  affairs,  who  are  giv- 
ing as  much  time  and  thought  to  church  and  philanthropy 
as  they  do  to  their  business.  With  its  great  problems  at 
home  and  abroad  the  church  offers  a  field  that  should  com- 
mand the  highest  gifts  and  the  largest  talents. 

The  Stewaedship  of  Business 

The  Source  of  Money. — The  stewardship  of  business  is 
another  suggestive  theme.  How  we  make  our  money  is  as 
much  a  part  of  our  stewardship  as  how  we  spend  it.  We 
are  forming  a  new  conscience  to-day  in  tliis  matter.  Once 
we  praised  men's  gifts  and  did  not  ask  as  to  their  source. 
Now  we  see  that  righteousness  must  come  before  benevo- 
lence. The  business  itself  belongs  to  God,  and  not  simply 
a  part  of  the  proceeds.    Here  is  the  great  steel  industry. 


142  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

Careful  investigation  a  few  years  ago  showed  that  twenty 
to  thirty  per  cent  of  the  iron  and  steel  workers  were  labor- 
ing seven  days  in  the  week  and  twelve  hours  a  day.  Our 
questions  will  not  be  silenced  by  gifts  of  library  buildings, 
church  organs,  and  peace  palaces.  If  God  is  a  real  partner, 
as  he  should  be  in  eveiy  business,  then  men  will  come  first 
and  dividends  second. 

Business  as  Service. — But  Christian  stewardship  in 
business  means  more  than  avoiding  injustice.  Every  busi- 
ness rightly  conducted  is  a  service  rendered  to  man,  and 
so  a  part  of  Christian  stewardship.  A  study  of  what  Henry 
Eord  has  done  in  Detroit  will  show  not  merely  employment 
for  thousands  at  good  wages,  but  in  these  families  more 
thrift,  greater  sobriety,  and  a  general  wholesome  influence. 
The  right  conduct  of  business  is  a  man's  first  opportunity 
for  stewardship.  It  is  so  with  a  professional  man.  Many 
a  physician  who  has  little  time  for  '^religious''  work  is 
yet  doing  a  large  amount  of  Christian  service.  The  career 
of  Justice  Brandeis  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court 
affords  a  fine  illustration.  Years  ago  he  was  left  a  moderate 
fortune.  He  decided  that  the  scale  of  living  in  his  home 
should  remain  the  same,  and  that  he  would  serve  the 
public  with  his  talents,  if  necessary  without  compensation. 
In  Oregon  and  Illinois  his  services,  involving  great  labor 
without  great  fees,  prevented  the  ten-hour-a-day  laws  for 
women  from  being  declared  unconstitutional,  and  else- 
where he  gave  other  notable  aid. 

The  Spending  of  Money 

What  Money  Is. — Christian  stewardship  has  to  do  with 
the  spending  of  money.  And  first  we  need  a  right  con- 
ception of  what  money  is.  Money  is  not  ^'filthy  lucre." 
In  itself  it  is  not  good  or  bad ;  that  all  depends  upon  the 
task  to  which  it  is  set.  It  may  become  a  minister  of  hell, 
degrading  and  destroying;  or  it  may  be  a  servant  of  light, 
bearing  life  to  men.  It  is  a  useful  servant,  though  not  an 
easy  one  to  rule.  Men  who  have  made  it  their  master  have 
exploited  childhood,  debauched  manhood,  defiled  woman- 


STEWARDSHIP  AND  LIFE  143 

hood,  and  committed  every  crime  in  the  calendar  for  its 
sake.  It  is  a  sharjD  test  for  any  man's  character,  but  it 
is  also  an  instrument  of  almost  unmeasured  power  for 
good.  What  is  the  five-dollar  wage  which  you  have  just 
received?  It  is  so  much  of  yourself,  of  your  sweat  and 
muscle  and  brain.  But  while  you  are  tied  down  to  one 
place  and  one  task,  the  five  dollars  are  not.  They  will  feed 
hungry  children  in  Belgium  or  Poland  or  they  will  minis- 
ter to  the  sick  in  a  Chinese  hospital. 

The  Power  of  Consecrated  Money. — Not  everything  can 
be  done  by  money,  but  it  seems  as  though  notliing  were 
impossible  when  consecrated  men  and  consecrated  money 
went  together.  We  have  found  that  there  was  money 
enough  to  stamp  out  smallpox  and  yellow  fever.  The 
abolition  of  typhoid  is  a  simple  matter  of  the  mse  use  of 
money,  and  its  presence  to-day  is  a  disgrace  to  a  city.  A 
prominent  writer  on  health  pointed  out  to  a  New  York 
audience  a  few  years  ago  a  plan  by  which  new  cases  of 
tuberculosis  could  be  made  impossible  in  that  city  by  the 
moderate  sum  of  sixteen  million  dollars.  Yonder  in  China 
are  cities  by  the  score  and  villages  by  the  hundred  that 
have  no  Christian  teacher  or  preacher.  There  are  hun- 
dreds of  cities  where  the  healing  that  comes  with  the 
power  of  modern  science  and  with  the  spirit  of  Christ  is 
practically  unknown.  There  are  scores  of  thousands  of 
men  and  women  in  India  who  are  waiting  at  the  door  of 
the  Christian  Church  and  cannot  come  in  because  there 
is  no  one  there  to  teach  them.  Here  on  this  side  are  men 
and  women,  preachers,  teachers,  physicians,  who  might 
be  sent,  while  over  there  are  native  helpers  who  cannot  be 
used  because  not  even  the  pittance  of  a  couple  of  dollars 
a  week  which  would  support  them  is  available.  There 
never  was  such  an  opportunity  for  Christian  investment 
as  to-day. 

The  Title  to  Money. — A  man's  right  to  money  is  de- 
pendent upon  his  use  of  it.  That  is  clearly  the  teaching 
of  Jesus  in  the  parable  of  the  talents.  No  man  has  any 
absolute  right  to  propert}^  Society  is  coming  more  and 
more  to  recognize  that.    If  a  piece  of  land  is  needed  for 


144  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

the  common  good,  the  state  may  take  it  over  by  right  of 
eminent  domain.  The  inheritance  tax  goes  still  farther, 
and  is  coming  to  be  more  and  more  widely  used.  A  man's 
moral  right  to  leave  money  to  his  children  is  not  absolute, 
but  depends  upon  whether  those  children  can  receive  it 
without  injury  to  themselves  and  use  it  for  the  good  of 
others.  The  Christian  faith  is  dishonored  when  Chris- 
tian men  die  leaving  large  wealth  to  their  children  and 
nothing  to  society. 

Not  a  Law,  but  a  Principle. — How  shall  the  Christian 
spend  his  income?  There  is  no  ready-made  rule  on  this 
subject.  Christianity  is  not  a  religion  of  law,  and  we  have 
no  more  right  to  enforce  the  Old  Testament  law  on  tithing 
here  than  its  rules  about  circumcision  and  burnt-offerings. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  strict  Jew  gave  more  than  a  tenth, 
and  the  law  demanded  more.  Two  yearly  tithes  were  re- 
ferred to  in  the  Old  Testament  law,  coming  from  differ- 
ent codes,  but  both  taken  as  valid  by  the  strict  Jew  (x^um- 
bers  18.  20-32;  Deuteronomy  14.  22-26).  Deuteronomy 
14.  28,  29  provided  for  still  another  tithe  to  be  given  every 
third  year,  in  which  year  the  Jew  thus  gave  a  third  of 
his  income.  In  addition  to  all  this  there  were  very 
large  freewill  offerings.  There  are  men  who  would  be 
false  to  plain  duty  if  they  did  not  give  more  than  a  tenth. 
Some  of  them  ought  to  give  largely  from  their  capital  as 
well  as  income,  as  Mr.  Carnegie  and  others  have  done. 

Proportionate  Giving. — One  of  the  first  duties  ought  to 
be  to  set  aside  a  definite  proportion  of  one's  income.  Giv- 
ing by  impulse  is  not  the  highest  giving.  Selfislmess  is 
hard  to  master.  It  is  too  easy  to  check  the  impulse.  The 
interests  of  the  Kingdom  are  too  important  to  be  treated 
in  that  haphazard  fashion.  Set  aside  a  proportion  and 
then  invest  it  in  God's  work  as  carefully  as  you  invest  in 
your  daily  business.  One  business  man  personally  known 
to  the  writer  gives  a  fifth  of  his  income  as  a  minimum,  and 
keeps  it  as  a  separate  bank  account,  watching  his  gifts 
as  carefully  as  he  does  his  other  business.  By  so  doing 
he  gives  himself  with  his  gift  and  multiplies  its  value. 
What  this  proportion  shall  be  each  man  must  determine. 


STEWAEDSHIP  AND  LIFE  145 

If  he  starts  with  a  tenth,  he  should  certainly  give  more 
than  that  with  increase  of  income. 

Directions  for  Study 

Scripture  references:  Matthew  25.  14-30;  Luke  16.  1-13;  Mat- 
thew 5.  13-16;  13.  51,  52;  Mark  4.  1-9;  Matthew  10.  32,  33;  28. 
16-20. 

Our  last  chapter  discussed  a  man's  world;  this  one  has  to  do 
with  his  work  in  the  world.  For  the  Jews  that  work  was  keep- 
ing certain  commandments;  for  Jesus  it  was  being  true  to  a 
trust. 

In  your  own  words  state  Jesus'  conception  of  stewardship., 
and  the  idea  of  God  and  the  world  which  goes  with  this. 

Does  the  possession  of  the  gospel  and  a  Christian  civiliza- 
tion bring  any  responsibility  to  us  as  individuals,  as  a  church, 
as  a  nation? 

Name  typical  instances  in  which  the  principle  of  stewardship 
is  violated  by  men  (1)  in  making  money,  (2)  in  keeping  money, 
(3)  in  spending  money,  (4)  in  leaving  money  after  death. 

Name  some  kinds  of  stewardship  that  are  especially  needed 
to-day. 

Giving  is  a  form  of  investment.  Name  some  of  these  in- 
vestments which  you  think  offer  to  the  giver  the  largest 
promise  of  return  to-day. 

When  is  the  best  time  for  a  man  to  give,  before  or  after  his 
death? 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE  KINGDOM  AS  A  GIFT  AND  A  GOOD 

No  word  stands  out  in  Jesus'  teacliing  like  the  phrase 
"the  kingdom  of  God/'  He  began  his  teaching  with  the 
word  which  John  had  used  before  hini,  "The  kingdom  of 
God  is  at  hand."  He  bade  his  disciples  proclaim  this  when 
he  sent  them  forth.  This  was  the  good  news,  the  gospel, 
with  which  he  stirred  men's  hearts.  Around  this  thought 
his  parables  center,  and  it  is  just  as  prominent  in  the 
'teaching  of  the  last  days  as  at  first.  What  did  Jesus  mean 
by  it? 

What  Is  the  EIingdom? 

The  Enle  of  God. — The  word  "kingdom"  may  have  one 
of  two  meanings,  either  the  rule  of  the  monarch,  or  the 
realm  over  which  he  reigns.  The  latter  is  the  more  com- 
mon meaning,  but  the  former  is  the  meaning  of  Jesus. 
By  the  kingdom  of  God  he  meant  the  rule  of  God.  "Thy 
kingdom  come"  and  "thy  will  be  done"  have  for  him  the 
same  meaning.  In  most  cases  the  gospel  passages  gain 
a  richer  and  fresher  meaning  if  we  read  "the  rule"  or 
"the  kingship  of  God"  in  place  of  the  words,  "the  king- 
dom of  God." 

The  Vision  and  the  Faith. — It  was  a  glorious  vision 
that  stood  before  the  soul  of  Jesus.  He  lived,  as  do  we, 
in  a  world  full  of  evil,  which  no  one  felt  so  keenly  as  he. 
Sickness  and  suffering  were  on  every  hand.  There  were 
poverty  and  sorrow.  Israel  was  under  the  hard  bondage 
of  Rome.  Above  all  there  was  the  evil  in  the  hearts  of 
men — their  fears  and  lusts,  their  selfishness  and  greed, 
their  blindness  and  hardness.  But  beyond  all  this  Jesus 
saw  another  day.    The  rule  of  God  was  to  come.    It  was 

146 


THE  KINGDOM  AS  A  GIFT  147 

all  a  part  of  Jesus'  faith  in  God.  Other  men  saw  the 
power  of  evil;  Jesus  saw  the  power  of  God.  It  was  God 
that  filled  his  soul,  it  was  God's  presence  that  he  knew  in 
all  things,  and  God's  might  stood  for  him  behind  and 
above  all  things.  He  knew  that  God's  rule  was  coming, 
and  the  horror  of  the  cross  itseK  could  not  move  him  from 
that  faith.  In  the  strength  and  joy  of  that  conviction  he 
moves  through  life,  and  with  its  burning  message  he 
kindles  the  hearts  of  men. 

Jesus  and  the  Jews. — Now,  the  Jews  had  their  kingdom 
hope  also.  They  too  expected  the  overturn  of  the  powers 
that  were  then  ruling  and  the  triumph  of  Jehovah.  But 
when  we  look  more  closely  we  see  that  by  the  triumph 
of  Jehovah  they  meant  the  triumph  of  Israel,  to  whom 
other  nations  should  bring  their  tribute.  Such  dreams 
have  no  place  with  Jesus.  He  is  alike  unconcerned  about 
the  fall  of  Eome  and  the  glory  of  Israel.  One  thing  only 
fills  his  soul,  and  that  is  God.  God  is  to  fill  this  world's 
life  and  to  rule  it.  Eighteousness  and  good  will,  joy  and 
peace — these  are  to  prevail  in  the  earth.  His  eyes  are  not 
upon  Israel  alone,  but  upon  all  men.  From  the  east  and 
the  west  and  the  north  and  the  south  he  sees  them  coming 
to  enter  the  Kingdom  from  which  Israel  indeed  was  shut- 
ing  herself  out  by  her  disobedience. 

Kingdom  of  G-od  and  Kingdom  of  Heaven. — Even  the 
ordinary  reader  will  note  that  Matthew's  Gospel  uses  the 
phrase  ^Tiingdom  of  heaven,"  and  the  other  Gospels  "king- 
dom of  God."  The  former  phrase  occurs  in  Matthew 
thirty-three  times,  while  only  five  times  does  he  speak  of 
the  kins^dom  of  God.  On  the  other  hand,  "kincrdom  of 
heaven"  is  never  used  in  the  other  Gospels.  It  is  quite 
evident  that  the  two  phrases  refer  to  the  same  tiling,  and 
a  comparison  of  parallel  passages  in  the  Gospels  confirms 
this.  Which  was  the  original  form  with  Jesus?  That  is 
impossible  for  us  to  tell,  but  probably  the  phrase  "king- 
dom of  God."  Had  the  original  phrase  been  "kingdom  of 
heaven,"  it  could  hardly  have  disappeared  from  the  rest 
of  the  apostolic  writings.  How,  then,  did  the  fonn  "king- 
dom of  heaven"  come  in  ?    That  is  probably  to  be  explained 


148  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

by  the  prevalent  Jewish  reverence  which  had  become  ahnost 
a  superstitious  fear,  and  which  kept  them  from  using  the 
name  of  Jehovah  or  God,  substituting  such  words  as 
Heaven,  or  Holy  One.  So  they  said  ^T^ingdom  of  heaven" 
instead  of  "kingdom  of  God." 

The  Kingdom  as  a  Good 

The  Supreme  Good. — The  kingdom  of  God,  Jesus  de- 
clares, is  the  highest  good  that  can  come  to  man.  It  was 
the  one  great  hope  that  filled  his  own  heart.  This  coming 
rule  was  to  include  every  good  that  men  could  wish  for. 
To  his  hearers  he  compared  it  with  a  great  treasure  wliich 
a  man  found  hidden  in  a  field.  No  wonder  that  tliis  man 
sold  all  that  he  had  so  that  he  might  buy  the  field  and 
possess  the  treasure.  It  was  like  the  pearl  discovered  by 
a  buyer  of  precious  stones,  such  a  pearl  as  he  had  dreamed 
of  but  had  never  seen.  No  wonder  that  he  sold  gladty 
all  his  lesser  treasures  that  he  might  gain  this  prize.  With 
such  words  Jesus  tried  to  make  men  feel  the  wonder  of 
the  hope  and  the  blessing  of  the  promised  gift. 

God's  Rule  as  Man's  Good. — Just  how  God's  kingship  is 
to  bring  every  blessing  Jesus  does  not  describe.  There 
were  many  Jewish  writings  in  that  day  which  told  of  the 
coming  reign,  and  they  were  filled  with  pictures  of  ene- 
mies overthrown,  Israel  triumphant,  and  the  saints  en- 
joying marvelous  wealth  of  harvest  and  almost  endless 
days  of  life.  These  things  Jesus  does  not  portray.  The 
rule  of  God  means  far  more  than  such  earthly  gifts.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  rule  of  God  meant  for  him  something 
very  different  from  what  it  means  to  many  to-day.  The 
prayer,  "Thy  will  be  done,"  suggests  to  most  men  a  burden 
or  a  hard  demand.  With  Jesus  it  is  absolutely  different 
because  his  thought  of  God  is  different.  His  God  is  pure 
mercy  and  good  will.  The  rule  of  such  a  God,  his  triumph 
in  the  world,  can  mean  nothing  but  the  highest  good  of 
men.  Seek  this  ELingdom,  he  calls  out  to  men,  and  every- 
thing else  will  come  with  it  (Matthew  6.  33).  "The 
kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the 


THE  KINGDOM  AS  A  GIFT  149 

world^^  is  Jesus'  phrase  to  describe  the  glorious  reward  of 
the  faithful  (Matthew  25.  34). 

What  Is  This  Good? 

The  Overthrow  of  Evil. — What,  then,  is  this  great  good 
which  the  rule  of  God  brings?  First  of  all,  the  overthrow 
of  evil,  not  of  sin  alone  but  of  every  power  of  evil  and  of 
all  suffering.  Jesus  saw  the  beginning  of  this  in  his  own 
work.  That  appears  in  his  challenge  to  the  Pharisees: 
"If  I  by  the  finger  of  God  cast  out  demons,  then  is  the 
kingdom  of  God  come  upon  you''  (Luke  11.  20).  And  so 
he  rejoices  when  the  disciples  come  back  telling  of  their 
healings :  "I  beheld  Satan  fallen  as  lightning  from  heaven" 
(Luke  10.  18).  The  overthrow  of  evil  was  the  mark  of  the 
coming  rule. 

Forgiveness. — More  important  as  a  gift  of  the  King- 
dom was  the  forgiveness  of  sin.  The  more  spiritual  Jews 
had  looked  forward  to  this,  that  the  Messiah  was 

"to  give  knowledge  of  salvation  unto  his  people 
In  the  remission  of  their  sins"  (Luke  1.  77). 
Not  the  healing  of  the  body  but  the  overthrow  of  sin  was 
the  chief  concern  of  Jesus.  His  chief  task  and  his  deepest 
joy  was  the  work  of  reconciling  men  to  God.  He  sees 
that  meaning  in  his  death,  as  he  speaks  to  his  disciples 
of  "my  blood  of  the  covenant,  which  is  poured  out  for 
many  unto  remission  of  sins."  And  Luke  reports  how  he 
declared  to  his  disciples  that  "repentance  and  remission 
of  sins  should  be  preached  in  his  name  unto  all  the  nations" 
(Luke  24.  47). 

G-od  as  the  Supreme  Gift. — The  real  gift  of  the  King- 
dom, is  God  himself.  That  is  wh}^  forgiveness  has  the 
first  place  in  the  Christian  message.  So  long  as  there  is 
sin,  there  is  separation  from  God.  Forgiveness  is  no  mere 
wiping  out  of  past  scores;  it  is  the  breaking  down  of  the 
barrier  between  God  and  man.  It  is  opening  the  door  by 
which  man  comes  to  God,  by  which  God  can  give  himself 
to  man.  That  has  been  God's  purpose  through  the  ages 
— to  give  himself  to  men.     When  his  rule  is  fully  come. 


150  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

then  men  shall  know  God  and  God  shall  be  the  life  of  men. 
Then  the  gift  to  the  pure  in  heart  shall  be  fully  attained, 
^'they  shall  see  God^'  (Matthew  5.  8).  And  here  we  see 
how  different  is  Jesus'  idea  of  God's  rule.  The  Kingdom 
does  not  mean  with  Jesus  a  throne  and  outward  power, 
but  rather  this  personal  fellowship  with  God. 

The  Kingdom  as  Life 

The  Kingdom  Means  Life. — From  all  this  it  would  ap- 
pear that  the  rule  of  God  meant  in  one  word  the  life  of 
men,  not  mere  existence,  but  the  richest,  fullest  life  as 
God  had  planned  this  for  them.  Just  tliis  wrs  the  thought 
of  Jesus,  for  he  uses  interchangeably  these  two  phrases, 
''the  kingdom  of  God''  and  "life."  Narrow  is  ''the  way 
that  leadeth  unto  life,"  he  says  in  one  place,  and  im^- 
mediately  thereafter  speaks  of  entering  into  "the  kingdom 
of  heaven"  (Matthew  7.  14,  21).  The  rich  young  ruler 
asks  what  he  is  to  do  to  inherit  eternal  life.  AYlien  he 
leaves,  Jesus  speaks  of  the  rich  man's  difficulty  in  entering 
into  the  Kingdom,  and  then  a  little  later  speaks  again  of 
eternal  life  (Mark  10.  17,  23,  30). 

Eternal  Life  in  the  Fourth  Gospel. — The  Gospel  of  John 
has  dropped  ahnost  altogether  this  phrase  tliat  had  so 
large  a  place  in  Jesus'  teaching.  There  are  only  two  pas- 
sages in  wliich  the  Kingdom  is  directly  referred  to.  Nico- 
demus  is  told  that  a  man  must  be  bom  anew  in  order  to 
see  the  kingdom  of  God  (John  3.  3-5).  And  before  Pilate 
Jesus  declares,  "My  kingdom  is  not  of  tliis  world"  (John 
18.  36).  Where  the  s}Tioptists  are  continually  speaking 
of  "the  Kingdom,"  the  fourth  Gospel  uses  the  phrase 
"eternal  life"  (John  3.  15;  4.  36;  5.  24,  39;  6.  40,  54,  68; 
10.  28;  12.  25;  17.  2,  3).  All  this  is  in  Hne  with  the 
general  character  of  this  Gospel,  which  tends  to  spiritualize 
the  teaching  of  Jesus  and  to  give  the  message  of  Jesus 
in  the  forms  of  thought  of  the  writer.  And  yet,  from  what 
has  just  been  pointed  out,  there  is  no  radical  departure 
here  from  the  thought  of  Jesus  as  seen  in  the  first  Gospels. 
What  John  does  is  to  set  forth  one  special  aspect,  the 


THE  KII^GDOM  AS  A  GIFT  151 

inner  aspect,  of  the  message  of  the  Kingdom.    The  King- 
dom means  life. 

The  Kingdom  as  a  Gift 

God's  Gift. — The  Kingdom  is  God's  gift  to  men.  "Fear 
not,  little  flock;  for  it  is  your  Father's  good  pleasure  to 
give  you  the  kingdom"  (Luke  12.  32).  What  man's  task 
is  we  are  to  see  later.  Here  we  must  note  the  fact  that 
the  message  of  hope  which  Jesus  brought  did  not  rest  upon 
any  thought  of  man's  progress  or  man's  goodness  or  even 
man's  devotion  to  a  cause.  His  hope  was  built  upon  God. 
The  Kingdom  was  his  Father's  gift.  Because  he  believed 
in  such  a  God,  mighty  as  well  as  merciful,  God  of  heaven 
and  earth,  but  also  Father  of  men,  he  believed  that  the 
Kingdom  was  coming,  and  called  on  men  to  believe  and 
rejoice  on  all  occasions. 

DiEEcnoNs  FOR  Study 

Read  the  Scripture  references:  Matthew  13.  44-46;  6.  10; 
5.  8;  Luke  1.  77;  24.  47;  Matthew  26.  28;  7.  14,  21;  Mark  10. 
17,  23,  30;   Luke  12.  29-32. 

Take  the  phrase  "rule  of  God"  and  substitute  it  for  the 
words  "kingdom  of  God,"  looking  up  as  many  passages  as  you 
have  time.     In  some  places  it  will  not  apply. 

If  possible,  read  what  is  said  about  the  Jewish  expectation 
of  the  Kingdom  in  Chapter  II  of  the  author's  Life  of  Jesus. 
Recall  what  we  learned  as  to  Jesus'  teaching  about  God.  How 
far  does  his  doctrine  of  the  Kingdom  flow  from  this? 

When  we  pray,  "Thy  will  be  done,"  do  we  feel  that  we  are 
yielding  something,  or  accepting  something  hard?  Why  does 
Jesus  think  of  the  rule  of  God  as  the  highest  good  of  men? 

Compare  Jesus'  teaching  about  the  Kingdom  as  a  good  with 
Paul's  declaration  that  the  kingdom  of  God  is  "righteousness 
and  peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Spirit."    How  do  they  differ? 


CHAPTER  XYIII 

THE  KINGDOM  AS  A  TASK 

The  conception  of  the  Ejngdom  with  which  we  have 
started  seems  at  first  sight  very  simple.  It  is  the  rule  of 
God,  and  it  is  to  come  upon  the  earth  as  a  gift  of  God. 
If  this  be  true,  then  there  would  seem  to  be  nothing  for 
us  except  quietly  to  wait  for  the  time  of  its  appearing. 
But  as  we  study  the  words  of  Jesus,  there  are  other  and 
larger  meanings  that  appear. 

Gifts  and  Tasks 

Two  Kinds  of  Gifts. — We  have  studied  the  kingdom  as 
God's  gift ;  man's  work  is  not  to  make  the  Kingdom,  man's 
desert  is  not  to  bring  it.  But  there  are  two  kinds  of  gifts 
and  two  ways  of  giving.  There  are  outward  gifts  which 
depend  simply  upon  the  will  of  the  giver.  A  wealthy  father 
can  give  his  boy  money  and  all  that  money  will  command. 
He  can  buy  him  books,  or  send  him  to  college,  or  let  him 
travel.  In  all  this  the  boy  need  have  no  part ;  it  is  simply 
a  matter  of  the  father.  There  are  other  gifts  which  can- 
not be  made  in  that  way,  and  the  highest  gifts  depend  quite 
as  much  upon  him  who  receives  as  upon  him  who  gives. 
No  one  can  give  that  boy  the  seeing  eye  when  he  journeys, 
by  which  alone  he  will  profit.  The  father  can  pay  his 
expenses,  but  whether  he  gives  the  boy  an  education  or 
not  depends  upon  the  boy.  When  it  comes  to  the  highest 
gifts  the  principle  is  even  more  clear.  The  father's  high- 
est gift  to  his  boy  is  a  right  spirit  and  character,  but  only 
the  boy  himself  can  make  such  a  gift  possible. 

Inner  Gifts. — The  question,  then,  is  this:  Is  the  King- 
dom in  Jesus'  mind  an  outer  gift  or  an  inner  one  ?  There 
is  no  doubt  that  the  Kingdom  was  primarily  external  in  the 

15^ 


THE  KINGDOM  AS  A  TASK  153 

minds  of  the  Jews.  They  thought  of  the  triumph  of  Israel 
over  her  foes,  of  a  day  of  power  and  rule  and  glory.  It 
was  not  so  with  Jesus.  We  have  seen  what  were  the  gifts 
of  the  Kingdom  with  him.  He  thought  of  sins  forgiven, 
of  men  living  in  fellowship  with  God,  of  the  overcoming 
of  evil,  of  a  new  and  glorious  life  which  he  called  the  life 
eternal.  It  was  the  life  of  God  in  the  world  and  in  men 
that  he  saw.  Such  gifts  depend  not  merely  upon  the  giver, 
but  upon  him  that  receives.  Every  such  gift  is  at  the 
same  time  a  demand  and  a  task.  The  good  news  of  God's 
gift  is  at  every  step  a  summons  to  men,  a  call  to  give,  to 
do,  to  strive,  to  live. 

The  Cost  of  Forgiveness. — We  may  see  this  principle 
quite  clearly  by  considering  forgiveness  as  the  first  gift 
of  the  Kingdom.  That  would  seem  to  be  the  freest  gift 
that  could  be  bestowed.  Does  it  not  depend  absolutely 
and  solely  upon  the  giver?  Not  so  with  Jesus.  Forgive- 
ness is  a  matter  of  the  mutual  relation  between  God  and 
man.  It  is  a  uniting  of  that  which  has  been  broken  by  sin. 
It  is  not  canceling  a  punishment,  but  forming  a  fellow- 
ship. And  that  costs.  It  means  repentance;  not  a 
momentary  remorse,  but  a  hating  of  sin  and  a  turning  to 
righteousness,  the  about-face  of  a  man's  heart  (Matthew 
18.  3,  4).  God  can  give  himself  only  as  man  gives  him- 
self. To  call  men  to  such  repentance,  therefore,  Jesus 
conceived  to  be  a  chief  task  (Luke  11.  29-32),  and  the 
demand  for  repentance  he  held  up  constantly  as  the  con- 
dition of  forgiveness  and  life  (Matthew  11.  20-24;  Luke 
15.  7,  10,  21). 

God's  Eule  as  Ouk  Task 

The  Outward  and  the  Inner  Rule. — That  the  Kingdom 
is  a  task  we  shall  see  most  clearly  when  we  go  back  to  our 
definition  of  the  Kingdom  as  the  rule  of  God.  There  are 
two  ways  in  which  God  rules  in  his  world.  In  one  case 
the  rule  is  external  and  absolute;  the  obedience  is  equally 
absolute.  That  is  in  the  world  of  things;  the  stars  that 
move  unerring  in  their  courses  can  never  go  astray.  The 
other  realm  is  that  of  persons;  here  God's  rule  must  be 


154  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

within.  In  this  world  of  persons  God  rules  only  as  men 
know  his  will,  and  love  his  will,  and  freely  carry  it  out  in 
their  life.  The  Jews  laid  stress  upon  righteousness  as  the 
condition  of  the  coming  of  the  Kingdom,  but  the  King- 
dom itself  lay  elsewhere.  With  Jesus  the  doing  of  the 
will  of  God  is  the  very  essence  of  the  Kingdom.  When 
he  says,  "Thy  kingdom  come,  thy  will  be  done,"  he  means 
the  same  thing;  and  so  also  when  he  bids  men  seek  first 
his  Kingdom  and  his  righteousness.  The  whole  Sermon 
on  the  Mount  is  a  witness  to  this;  it  is  Jesus'  call  to  a 
higher  righteousness  of  life,  and  that  righteousness  is 
simply  the  rule  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  Without  such  right- 
eousness men  cannot  even  see  the  kingdom  of  God  (Mat- 
thew 5.  20).  The  simple  test  is  whether  a  man  is  actually 
doing  the  will  of  God,  whether  his  life  is  actually  showing 
the  fruits  of  righteousness  (Matthew  7.  15-23). 

Who  Are  My  Brothers? — Most  effectively  and  simply  is 
the  truth  brought  out  in  Matthew  12.  46-50.  Here  Jesus 
leaves  the  word  "kingdom^'  and  goes  back  to  that  picture 
of  the  family  which  most  truly  represents  his  thought  of 
God  and  man  and  their  relation  to  each  other.  Some  one 
had  reported  that  his  mother  and  brothers  were  without 
and  were  asking  for  him.  "And  he  stretched  forth  his  hand 
towards  his  disciples,  and  said.  Behold,  my  mother  and  my 
brethren !  For  whosoever  shall  do  the  will  of  my  Father 
who  is  in  heaven,  he  is  my  brother,  and  sister,  and  mother." 
Being  in  the  Kingdom  means  doing  the  will  of  God;  that 
is  the  final  test. 

Eternal  Life  as  a  Task 

What  Is  Eternal  Life? — We  have  seen  that  Jesus  used 
still  another  figure  to  set  forth  the  Kingdom  as  a  gift; 
he  speaks  of  it  as  eternal  life.  Now,  eternal  Ufe,  it  is  need- 
less to  say,  does  not  mean  simply  unending  life.  It  is 
quality,  not  duration,  that  counts  here.  Sometimes,  in- 
deed, Jesus  simply  says  Ufe.  This  life,  of  which  men 
have  the  beginnings  here,  is  nothing  other  than  fellowship 
with  God,  the  life  in  which  God  gives  himself  to  men. 
What  is  the  life  of  God  in  us?     Something  given  to  us? 


THE  KI^^GDOM  AS  A  TASK  155 

Yes,  but  always  something  lived  by  ns  at  the  same  time. 
No  man  really  has  God^s  love  who  is  not  loving  Ms  neigh- 
bor. No  man  has  God's  forgiving  grace  who  is  not  him- 
self gracious  and  forgiving.  God's  great  gift  of  holiness 
is  not  a  "thing"  that  is  given  to  us,  or  something  that  is 
done  to  us,  it  is  something  that  we  have  only  as  we  live 
it.  From  the  very  first  step  this  kingship  of  God  is  some- 
thing to  be  lived  out. 

The  Cost  of  Friendship. — We  see  that  plainly  again, 
when  we  think  of  this  Kingdom,  or  life,  as  a  fellowship, 
or  friendship.  A  friend  means  much  more  than  a  patron. 
A  patron  makes  gifts,  a  friend  bestows  himself.  It  may 
not  cost  anything  to  take  gifts  from  a  patron;  to  enter 
into  a  friendship  always  costs  something,  and  may  demand 
ever}i;hing.  Friendship  is  always  mutual;  the  best  and 
strongest  and  richest  friend  always  asks  something  in  re- 
turn even  of  the  man  who  seems  to  have  little  to  give. 
Friendship  means  fellowship,  communion,  having  some- 
thing in  common.  No  friendsliip  is  so  gracious  or  gives 
so  much  as  the  friendship  of  God ;  but  it  asks  also.  Ever}^ 
friend  must  have  a  place  in  our  life,  and  this  Friend  must 
have  the  supreme  place.  He  must  come  in  where  we  keep 
our  ideals,  our  deepest  hopes,  our  strongest  passions,  our 
final  purposes.  His  friendship  will  shape  and  form  all 
these.  We  see  at  once  that  the  friendship,  so  gracious  a 
gift,  becomes  a  great  task.  Nothing  so  demands  a  man's 
whole  thought  and  will  and  strength  as  this  free  gift  of 
the  friendship  of  God. 

The  Summons  of  Jesus 

What  He  Asks  of  Men. — All  these  considerations  make 
clear  to  us  the  ethical  note  in  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  and 
how  it  differed  from  the  teaching  of  the  Jews.  Like  them, 
he  believed  that  the  coming  Kingdom  was  to  be  the  gift 
of  God;  unlike  them,  he  saw  that  it  was  also  a  task  for 
men.  He  applies  this  to  the  indi\ddual.  Men  are  not  to 
sit  with  folded  hands,  waiting  for  the  Kingdom.  It  de- 
mands eager  desire,  the  hunger  and  thirst  for  righteous- 


156  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

ness,  a  determination  like  that  of  men  who  take  a  city  by 
storm  (Matthew  5.  6;  11.  12).  Men  must  strive  to  enter 
in,  must  enter  in  by  a  narrow  gate  (Luke  13.  24;  Matthew 
7.  13,  1-4).  The  Kingdom  must  stand  first  in  men^s  de- 
sires, it  must  be  the  only  master  of  our  life,  and  not  the 
most  precious  of  our  possessions  may  stand  in  the  way, 
not  the  right  hand  or  the  right  eye  (Matthew  6.  33,  34; 
5.  29,  30).  Clear  and  strong  he  makes  the  final  test.  The 
men  of  the  Kingdom  whom  the  king  shall  own  are  those 
who  do  the  deeds  of  the  Kingdom:  thorns  cannot  bring 
forth  grapes,  good  trees  must  show  good  fruits,  the  men 
of  the  Kingdom  will  not  be  those  who  said,  "Lord,  Lord,'' 
but  those  who  did  the  will  of  the  Eather  (Matthew  7. 
15-23). 

The  Responsibility  of  the  Nation. — The  parable  of  the 
vineyard  and  the  wicked  husbandmen  enforces  the  same 
truth,  but  applies  it  to  the  Jewish  nation  as  a  whole.  In 
some  ways  this  parable  does  not  seem  to  fit  in  with  the 
rest  of  the  teaching  about  the  Kingdom.  Instead  of  being 
a  gift  such  as  we  have  considered  the  Kingdom  is  rather 
a  rule  or  authority  that  has  been  handed  over  to  Israel. 
But  the  contradiction  disappears  as  we  look  more  closely. 
It  is  not  an  outward  rule  of  which  Jesus  is  thinking,  but 
rather  that  gift  of  God's  truth,  that  revelation  of  his  will 
and  purpose,  with  which  God  had  intrusted  Israel.  He 
had  given  it  for  the  good  of  others,  and  the  gift  was  to  be 
a  task.  They  had  taken  it  as  a  private  possession  and 
privilege.  Aiid  so  the  Kingdom  of  God  was  to  be  taken 
from  them  and  given  to  others. 

The  Kingdom  and  the  Nation. — That  same  question 
and  that  same  task  face  us  as  a  nation.  There  is  a  sense, 
with  us  as  with  the  Jews,  in  which  we  have  already  been 
given  the  kingdom  of  God.  God  has  given  us  his  truth, 
has  revealed  his  will.  His  rule  is  present  where  there  is 
true  democracy  in  government,  where  there  is  righteous- 
ness in  business,  where  there  is  good  will  among  men.  But 
the  task  looms  big  before  us  of  letting  his  rule  come 
into  all  our  life  and  affairs  as  a  people.  If  we  fail 
here,  if  his  will  is  not  done  in  our  life,  if  his  King- 


THE  KINGDOM  AS  A  TASK  157 

dom  is  not  furthered  among  the  other  nations  by  our  devo- 
tion and  service,  then  "the  kingdom  of  God  shall  be  taken 
away  from  you,  and  shall  be  given  to  a  nation  bringing 
forth  the  fruits  thereof." 

DiBEcnoNs  FOR  Study 

Read  the  Scripture  references:  Matthew  6.  10,  33;  7.  15- 
23;  21.  33-43. 

Review  the  last  lesson,  calling  to  mind  Jesus'  teaching  about 
the  Kingdom  as  a  gracious  gift  of  God  to  men,  and  noting 
the  different  forms  in  which  this  gift  appears. 

Run  through  the  lesson  discussion,  and  bring  together  all 
the  Bible  references  that  you  find  in  which  Jesus  emphasizes 
the  side  of  duty  and  demand  and  responsibility.  Note  that 
in  some  of  these  he  speaks  definitely  of  the  Kingdom;  there 
are  others  in  which  the  reference  to  the  Kingdom  is  implied. 
Recall  other  passages  and  parables  in  which  this  part  of  the 
message  of  Jesus  appears. 

Now  consider  how  these  two  sides  belong  together.  Some 
gifts  do  not  cost  us  anything.  How  is  it  with  the  highest 
gifts?  with  the  gifts  of  the  Kingdom? 

In  what  part  of  our  personal  life  is  it  hardest  to  live  out 
the  kingdom  of  God?  In  our  home,  in  our  business,  in  our 
friendships,  in  our  inner  thoughts? 

With  what  special  gifts  and  privileges  has  our  land  been 
endowed?  What  are  some  of  its  special  responsibilities  in 
relation  to  the  coming  of  the  Kingdom? 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE  KINGDOM  AS  INWAED  AXD   OUTWAED 

To  say  that  the  kingdom  of  God  in  Jesus^  teacliing 
means  the  rule  of  God  seems  very  simple.  And  yet  in  this 
thought  of  the  rule  of  God  Jesus  includes  all  his  hopes  of 
the  future,  all  his  thought  of  what  God  would  do,  all  his 
ideals  of  what  men  should  be.  Because  tliis  idea  includes 
so  much,  we  have  had  certain  large  differences  of  opinion 
among  students  as  to  its  meaning,  differences  which  came 
mainly  because  men  had  over-emphasized  one  side  or  the 
other  of  this  rich  conception.  One  of  these  broad  differ- 
ences appears  in  this  lesson. 

The  Kijtgdom  as  Inward 

The  dnestion. — Is  the  kingdom  of  God  inward  or  out- 
ward? Is  it  something  purely  spiritual,  or  is  it  also 
visible?  Earlier  Protestant  thought  tended  to  emphasize 
the  former  idea,  to  think  of  the  Kingdom  as  simply  a 
spiritual  fact  in  individual  experience.  Modern  thought 
lays  more  stress  upon  that  which  is  social  and  visible,  upon 
a  new  social  order  with  a  transformation  of  industry  and 
government  and  all  the  life  and  institutions  of  men.  What 
is  the  teaching  of  Jesus? 

An  Inner  Gift. — Our  first  impression  is  that  the  king- 
dom of  God  is  inner  and  individual  with  Jesus,  and  this 
is  borne  out  by  various  considerations.  In  the  first  place, 
the  gifts  of  the  Kingdom  as  we  have  studied  them  are 
primarily  spiritual.  There  is  the  forgiveness  of  sin  and 
the  overcoming  of  evil  in  men's  lives.  There  is  God's  gift 
of  himself  to  men  in  love  and  fellowship.  And  there  is 
the  significant  fact  that  Jesus  uses  the  term  "eternal  life" 

158 


KINGDOM  AS  INWARD  AND  OUTWARD    159 

as  meaning  the  same  as  'Tdngdom  of  God.'^  The  king- 
dom of  God,  then,  is  a  new  and  higher  life  of  man. 

The  Nature  of  the  Kingdom  Seen  in  Its  Children. — 

What  Jesus  says  about  those  to  whom  the  Kingdom  be- 
longs also  indicates  its  character  as  spiritual.  The  Beati- 
tudes do  not  tell  how  we  are  to  earn  the  Kingdom;  they 
describe  rather  the  kind  of  people  to  whom  the  Kingdom 
belongs,  the  real  sons  of  the  Kingdom.  But  to  describe 
the  "sons  of  the  Kingdom"  is  nothing  else  than  describ- 
ing the  Kingdom  itself.  This  purit}^  of  heart,  this  hu- 
mility of  spirit,  this  mercy  and  peace  and  passion  for 
righteousness,  this  is  what  really  constitutes  the  rule  of 
God,  his  Eangdom.  The  Kingdom  then  is  something  with- 
in. The  same  truth  appears  in  what  Jesus  says  about 
being  like  a  child  in  order  to  enter  the  Kingdom  (Mat- 
thew 18.  3,  4).  Because  the  Kingdom  is  above  all  an 
inner,  spiritual  life  given  by  God  it  requires  the  spirit  of 
a  child  to  receive  it,  the  spirit  of  humilit}^  and  openness 
and  trust. 

The  Kingdom  in  the  Midst. — Especially  striking  is  the 
passage,  Luke  17.  20,  21:  "The  kingdom  of  God  cometh 
not  with  observation:  neither  shall  they  say,  Lo,  here!  or. 
There !  for  lo,  the  kingdom  of  God  is  witliin  you.^^  It 
makes  little  difference  if  we  take  here  the  translation  sug- 
gested in  the  margin  of  the  re\dsed  version,  and  read  "the 
kingdom  of  God  is  in  the  midst  of  you,^^  which  is  perhaps 
the  more  probable  meaning.  The  thought  would  then  be 
this.  The  Pharisees  had  asked  him  when  the  Kingdom 
was  to  come.  You  are  expecting  something  striking,  an- 
swers Jesus,  which  the  eyes  of  all  may  see.  Let  me  tell 
you,  the  kingdom  of  God  is  already  in  your  midst  and  you 
do  not  even  know  it.  They  did  not  know  it  because  they 
were  looking  for  sometliing  external,  political,  and  spec- 
tacular. They  did  not  see  its  beginnings  in  the  Spirit  of 
God  working  through  Jesus  in  teaching  and  healing  and 
forgiving,  and  showing  itself  in  the  men  who  were  already 
turning  to  the  Kingdom. 

Jesus  Shows  the  Nature  of  the  Kingdom. — The  con- 
clusion that  the  Kingdom  is  inward  is  borne  out  by  the 


160  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

method  of  Jesus*  life  and  work.  In  his  temptation  he 
sets  aside  definitely  the  ideas  of  rule  and  power,  and  chooses 
the  way  of  a  servant.  Love  and  good  will  are  his  instru- 
ments. Every  suggestion  of  political  or  other  outer  power 
he  puts  aside ;  he  wants  to  rule  from  within.  And  it  is  the 
inner  spirit  that  he  emphasizes  with  men.  One  passage 
after  another  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  points  out  that 
the  righteousness  of  God  must  be  inner.  Especially  sig- 
nificant is  the  fact  that  ordinarily  Jesus  sets  forth  the 
relation  of  God  and  man  not  under  the  figure  of  king  and 
subjects,  but  of  Father  and  children.  But  when  you  ask 
what  makes  God  our  Father,  and  what  makes  us  his  sons, 
it  is  to  the  inner  spirit  that  Jesus  points.  God  is  Father 
because  he  is  merciful  and  forgiving  and  good;  we  are  his 
children  only  as  we  show  that  same  spirit  (Matthew  5.  43- 
48;  Luke  15.  11-32).  The  meaning  of  God's  kingship  is 
not  different  from  that  of  his  Fatherhood,  and  his  king- 
dom among  men  is  nothing  else  than  the  life  of  men  as 
his  children.  And  so  we  are  brought  to  the  conclusion 
again,  that  the  kingdom  of  God  is  an  inner  and  spiritual 
reality. 

The  Ejngdom  as  Social  and  Visible 

The  King^dom  Is  Outward  Also. — To  stop  with  the 
thought  of  the  Kingdom  as  an  inner  reality,  however,  is 
to  miss  the  full  meaning  of  the  message  of  Jesus.  That 
is  what  those  have  too  often  done  who  have  insisted  upon 
the  spiritual  character  of  the  Kingdom.  They  have  felt 
it  necessary  to  deny  its  social  meaning,  its  bearing  upon 
the  institutions  of  life  and  the  larger  relations  in  which 
men  live.  Thus  the  spiritual  has  come  to  mean  something 
partial  and  narrow  and  weak,  and  the  kingdom  of  God 
has  come  to  mean  the  rule  of  God  in  heaven  but  not  on 
earth,  or  at  least  only  in  a  little  fraction  of  man's  life 
here.  Nothing  like  this  is  involved  in  Jesus'  teaching. 
The  Kingdom  is  a  rule  of  the  spirit,  but  this  spirit  is  to 
rule  all  the  life  of  the  world. 

The  God  of  Jesus  is  God  of  All. — This  follows  first  from 
Jesus'  thought  of  God.    The  Kingdom  is  the  rule  of  God, 


KINGDOM  AS  INWARD  AND  OUTWAED    161 

and  the  God  of  Jesus  is  the  God  of  all  life.  It  is  upon 
this  thought  of  God  that  Jesus  rests  his  hope  of  the  King- 
dom. He  prays  to  him  as  ^"^Lord  of  heaven  and  earth.'^ 
He  declares  that  "with  God  all  things  are  possible."  He 
bids  men  "fear  him,"  and  rebukes  their  anxiety  because 
it  shows  a  fear  of  some  other  power  than  that  of  God.  His 
heart  is  filled  with  joy  because  this  God  is  some  time  to 
rule  all.  True,  that  rule  is  to  be  from  within,  through 
men's  faith  and  love  and  free  obedience;  but  it  is  still  to 
be  his  rule  and  it  will  extend  over  all.  Some  time  greed 
and  oppression  and  war  shall  cease,  for  his  will  shall  be 
done  in  all  things,  No  one  can  share  Jesus'  faith  in  God 
and  think  other  than  this  about  the  coming  Kingdom. 
God  is  one  God  and  the  world  will  not  always  be  divided 
as  it  is  to-day  between  the  rule  of  good  and  evil. 

The  Spirit  as  a  Social  Spirit. — The  same  result  follows 
if  we  begin  with  man's  side  of  the  Kingdom  instead  of 
God's.  The  Kingdom  is  God's  rule  in  men,  the  rule  of  a 
new  spirit.  Let  us  ask  now  what  the  nature  of  this  spirit 
is  and  what  it  involves.  First  of  all  it  is  a  social  spirit, 
and  so  it  cannot  remain  within  but  must  show  itself  in 
the  life  of  man  with  his  fellow  men.  There  are  those  who 
think  that  a  "spiritual"  religion  is  one  that  takes  a  man 
away  from  his  fellows  so  that  he  may  give  himself  wholly 
to  God.  With  Jesus  a  spiritual  religion  is  essentially  a 
social  religion.  The  men  of  the  Kingdom,  in  whom  is  this 
new  spirit,  will,  of  course,  pray  just  as  Jesus  prayed ; 
but  when  Jesus  comes  to  lay  down  the  rule  of  the  Kingdom 
life,  he  does  not  refer  to  prayer  and  meditation,  but  speaks 
of  the  love  and  service  of  men  (Mark  9.  35;  10.  42-45). 
The  real  way  to  serve  God,  he  teaches,  is  to  serve  men,  and 
the  way  in  which  we  treat  our  brothers  in  need  here  is  to 
be  the  final  test  of  our  possession  of  the  spirit  (Matthew 
25.  31-46).  In  the  teaching  of  Jesus  spiritual  means 
social. 

The  Spirit  is  Righteousness  and  Must  Rule  All  Life. — 
This  spirit  is  also  a  spirit  of  righteousness.  Its  prayer  is, 
"Thy  kingdom  come,  thy  will  be  done."  Its  supreme 
ambition  is  "his  kingdom  and  his  righteousness"  (Matthew 


162  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

6.  10,  33).  That  spirit  must  show  itseK  in  certain  ways. 
The  righteousness  will  begin  within,  but  it  must  extend 
to  every  part  of  a  man's  life  (Matthew  7.  15-23).  So  far 
from  protesting  against  a  religion  that  meddles  in  business, 
this  man  will  make  it  his  first  interest  to  ask  what  God's 
rule  in  his  daily  business  means.  It  is  easier  to  say  "Lord, 
Lord"  on  Sunday  than  to  remember  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  on  Monday;  but  the  supreme  test  still  remains, 
"he  that  doeth  the  will  of  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven." 
Not  only  that,  but  the  man  who  seeks  first  his  Kingdom 
and  liis  righteousness  cannot  rest  until  that  righteousness 
obtains  in  all  the  life  of  the  world,  inward  and  outward,  in- 
dividual and  social.  The  rule  of  God  begins  as  an  inner 
spirit,  but  so  far  as  it  is  a  real  rule  it  must  show  itself 
in  all  the  life  and  institutions  of  men.  Some  of  this  life 
is  individual,  and  each  man  can  determine  it  for  himself. 
Some  of  it  is  social,  that  is,  it  can  be  determined  only  by 
men  acting  together.  It  is  by  this  common  social  action 
that  the  organization  of  business  and  the  conduct  of  the 
state  are  determined.  But  it  still  remains  our  task  as 
Christians  in  these  latter  matters,  however  hard  it  may  be 
to  bring  about,  not  to  rest  content  until  the  will  of  God 
is  done  on  earth. 

The  Kingdom  as  a  Fellowship 

The  Kingdom  a  Brotherhood  of  Those  That  Do  God's 
Will. — There  is  still  another  way  in  which  the  Kingdom 
transcends  the  inward  and  individual  and  becomes  social 
and  outward,  so  that  it  may  be  seen  by  men.  That  is 
through  the  company  of  the  disciples  of  the  Kingdom.  If 
the  Kingdom  is  present  where  God's  will  is  being  done,  then 
the  Kingdom  will  correspond  in  a  general  way  with  those 
who  do  this  will.  Moreover,  these  men  of  the  Kingdom 
will  not  be  so  many  individuals  standing  alone.  The  life 
of  the  Kingdom  is  a  life  of  brotherhood,  showing  itself 
in  love  and  service.  As  such  it  must  draw  these  men  to- 
gether. Such  a  Kingdom  inevitably  means  a  visible  fel- 
lowship, though  one  resting  on  spiritual  grounds. 


KINGDOM  AS  IXWAED  AND  OUTWARD    163 

This  Brotherhood  Seen  in  the  Gospels. — All  this  we  find 
reflected  in  the  Gospels.  While  there  is  notliing  in  them 
about  the  organization  of  a  church,  yet  there  is  a  natural 
coming  together  of  the  disciples  of  Jesus,  the  smaller  com- 
pany of  the  twelve  who  were  the  permanent  companions 
of  Jesus,  and  the  larger  group  that  changed  and  shifted. 
For  Jesus  the  disciples  form  the  anticipation  of  the  com- 
ing Kingdom,  the  beginnings  of  its  realization.  He  speaks 
of  them  as  the  salt  of  the  earth  and  the  light  of  the  world, 
as  the  leaven  which  shall  yet  permeate  the  whole  lump 
(Matthew  5.  13-16;  13.  33).  He  sees  in  their  life  a  new 
order  in  contrast  with  the  selfish  kingdoms  of  the  earth; 
^^it  is  not  so  among  you,"  he  declares  (Mark  10.  42-45). 
The  old  organizations  of  human  society  are  to  be  replaced 
by  a  new  community,  where  men  shall  know  themselves 
as  brothers,  as  children  of  one  Father,  where  the  controlling 
rule  of  life  shall  be  unselfish  service,  and  in  wliich  all 
nations  shall  participate. 

The  Meaning^  of  the  Social  Service  Movement  in  the 
Church. — There  are  many  who  look  askance  at  the  church's 
interest  in  social  service  and  feel  that  real  spiritual  reli- 
gion is  being  lost,  that  we  are  busying  ourselves  with 
external  things  and  losing  sight  of  that  inner  life  which 
counted  for  everything  with  Jesus.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
this  movement  is  vitalizing  and  spiritualizing  the  work  of 
the  church  to-day.  Note  some  of  the  fundamental  ideas 
that  underlie  this  movement,  and  consider  how  far  they 
agree  with  the  teachings  of  Jesus  and  reflect  his  influence. 

(1)  All  life  is  sacred.  All  a  man's  life  belongs  to  God. 
Not  all  life  is  equal  in  importance,  there  is  an  inner  and 
an  outer ;  but  the  rule  of  God  must  go  to  every  part. 

(2)  It  is  a  man's  business  to  Christianize  his  whole  life, 
and  it  is  the  business  of  society  (of  men  living  together 
in  a  community,  in  a  nation,  in  a  world  life)  to  Christianize 
all  their  relations. 

(3)  The  way  to  make  a  better  world  is  to  make  better 
men,  but  the  converse  is  also  true :  The  way  to  make  better 
men  is  to  get  a  better  world.  It  will  not  do  to  save  a  few 
drunkards  and  let  the  saloons  remain  open,  to  give  a  little 


164  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

charity  and  let  men  work  at  starving  wageS;,  to  try  to  save 
children  by  one  hour  in  the  Sunday  school  while  they  live 
in  moral  and  physical  filth  the  rest  of  the  time. 

(4)  The  truest  spiritual  life  is  social,  first  as  the  life 
lived  with  God,  then  as  the  life  lived  with  men.  When 
a  man  shuts  himself  off  by  himself  he  dies ;  when  he  gives 
himself  to  others  he  lives.  It  is  in  his  life  with  others 
that  he  really  lives,  in  worship  and  prayer,  in  home,  in 
state,  in  business,  in  social  fellowship,  in  personal  service. 

(5)  It  is  because  this  social  life  counts  for  so  much  that 
it  is  of  the  greatest  importance  that  we  Christianize  that 
social  order  and  those  social  institutions  in  which  this  life 
is  expressed :  church,  home,  state,  industry,  and  recreation. 

Some  General  Conclusions 

Some  Common  Errors. — This  consideration  of  Jesus' 
teaching  shows  the  error  of  some  rather  common  opinions. 

(1)  That  idea  of  the  Kingdom  is  wrong  which  identifies 
it  with  the  church.  The  church  with  its  fellowship,  its 
worship,  and  its  service  is  an  important  part  of  the  King- 
dom, is  its  very  center  indeed;  but  the  Kingdom  is  larger 
than  the  church.  Wherever  there  is  righteousness  and 
love  and  truth,  there  is  the  rule  of  God,  and  the  kingdom 
of  God  is  simply  his  rule.  That  rule  may  be  found  in  a 
factory  or  a  legislature  as  truly  as  in  a  prayer  meeting. 

(2)  The  kingdom  of  God  is  not  a  matter  of  external  rule 
or  of  outward  organization  of  any  kind.  That  is  the  error 
of  Mormonism.  That  was  the  mistake  of  some  sects  at 
the  time  of  the  Eeformation.  That  was  the  kind  of  king- 
dom to  which  the  Jews  looked  forward.  That  is  still  the 
idea  of  some  who  look  for  Christ  to  reestablish  the  Jewish 
state,  to  set  up  a  political  organization,  and  to  rule  in 
bodily  presence  and  from  an  earthly  throne  at  Jerusalem, 
dominating  the  world  by  visible  splendor  and  power.  (3) 
It  is  a  mistake  to  make  the  kingdom  of  God  purely  inward 
and  individual,  setting  off  a  little  section  of  the  world  and 
calling  it  spiritual,  while  the  great  activities  and  interests 
of  business  and  state  are  put  aside  as  secular.     The  rule 


KINGDOM  AS  INWARD  AND  OUTWARD    165 

of  God  for  Jesus  was  moral  and  spiritual,  but  this  spirit 
was  to  dominate  all  life. 

Directions  for  Study 

Scripture  references:  Matthew  18.  3,  4;  5.  3-9;  Luke  17.  20, 
21;  Matthew  6.  10,  33;   5.  13-16;  Mark  10.  42-45;  2.  19. 

Review  the  lessons  that  we  have  had  thus  far  on  the  King- 
dom. Keep  in  mind  the  simple  thought  with  which  we  started 
of  the  Kingdom  as  the  rule  of  God,  and  note  how  the  various 
aspects  of  this  great  idea  spring  from  this  central  thought. 

Consider  the  Kingdom  first  as  an  inner  spirit  and  life,  read- 
ing the  first  passages  noted  above,  including  that  in  Luke  17. 
Consider  the  need  of  emphasizing  this  and  the  constant  danger 
of  making  the  Kingdom  something  external. 

Now  study  the  remaining  passages,  with  the  discussion 
given  above.  Note  that  if  we  take  this  spirit  of  the  Kingdom 
in  the  sense  in  which  Jesus  meant  it,  it  will  at  once  lead  us 
out  into  all  the  life  of  the  world. 

What  are  some  parts  of  our  modem  life  where  the  rule  of 
God  is  especially  needed?  How  far  are  the  modern  social  serv- 
ice movements  a  fruit  of  the  spirit  and  the  teachings  of  Jesus? 


CHAPTEE  XX 

THE  KINGDOM  AS  PEESENT  AND  FUTUEE 

The  many-sided  teaching  of  Jesus  about  the  Kingdom 
has  given  rise  to  another  controversy.  Is  the  kingdom  of 
God  already  here,  or  is  it  wholly  in  the  future?  It  is  yet 
to  come,  say  some;  it  is  to  appear  at  some  future  day 
through  some  mighty  deed  of  God,  which  shall  bring  to 
an  end  this  present  age  and  bring  about  a  new  earth.  It 
is  already  here,  say  some;  it  is  here  wherever  God^s  will  is 
being  done,  and  though  it  is  not  yet  perfected,  it  is  slowly 
but  surely  moving  on  to  completion.  Words  of  Jesus  can 
be  cited  for  both  positions.    We  will  consider  them  in  turn. 

The  Kingdom  as  Futuke 

The  Kingdom  Is  to  Come. — The  message  with  which 
Jesus  begins  his  work  refers  to  the  Kingdom  as  that  which 
is  to  come.  "The  kingdom  of  God  is  at  hand,"  he  de- 
clares (Mark  1.  15).  It  is  near,  but  it  is  yet  to  come,  and 
the  glorious  news  of  its  coming  is  the  burden  of  his  word. 
For  this  he  bids  men  pray,  "Thy  kingdom  come."  He 
bids  them  look  forward  to  the  day  when  they  shall  hear 
him  say,  "Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  king- 
dom prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world" 
(Matthew  25.  34).  He  describes  how  men  shall  "come 
from  the  east  and  west,  and  from  the  north  and  south,  and 
shall  sit  down  in  the  kingdom,"  and  how  the  righteous 
shall  "shine  forth  as  the  sun"  (Luke  13.  29;  Matthew 
13.  43). 

The  Kingdom  as  Near  at  Hand. — It  is  quite  clear  that 
the  coming  of  this  Kingdom  seemed  to  him  very  near.  It 
is  "at  hand."  There  were  some  standing  by,  he  declared 
one  day,  who  should  not  see  death  till  the  kingdom  of 
God  was  come  with  power.  "This  generation  shall  not 
pass  away,"  he  said  at  another  time,  "till  all  things  be 

166 


KINGDOM  AS  PEESENT  AND  FUTURE     167 

accomplished^'  (Luke  21.  32).  And  at  the  Last  Supper 
he  declared,  "I  shall  not  drink  from  henceforth  of  the 
fruit  of  the  vine,  until  the  kingdom  of  God  shall  come" 
(Luke  22.  18).  All  this  indicates  a  kingdom  yet  to  come, 
though  near  at  hand. 

The  Kingdom  as  Aleeadt  Peesent 

What  Jesus  Saw  and  Did. — This,  however,  is  not  the 
most  distinctive  side  of  Jesus'  teaching.  We  have  here 
simply  another  illustration  of  the  fact  that  Jesus'  concep- 
tion of  the  Kingdom  is  too  rich  to  be  confined  in  a  single 
formula.  The  ministry  of  Jesus  begins  with  the  proclama- 
tion of  the  coming  Kingdom,  but  it  does  not  end  there. 
He  does  not  simply  repeat  these  words  and  then  wait  for 
that  day  to  come  in  which  God  shall  overthrow  all  evil 
and  rule  alone.  Nor  does  he,  like  John,  simply  call  the 
people  to  repentance.  Under  his  own  hand  he  sees  a  work 
begin,  in  which  evil  is  already  being  overthrown  and  the 
power  and  rule  of  God  are  shown.  He  forgives  men  and 
heals  them.  He  leads  men  into  fellowship  with  God, 
bringing  God  into  their  lives.  And  so  he  gives  them  the 
strength  and  the  peace  which  only  the  rule  of  God  in  men 
can  bring  (Matthew  11.  25-30).  He  begins  gathering 
about  him  a  group  of  men  whose  hearts  are  open  to  God, 
and  who  share  this  spirit  which  marks  the  rule  of  God. 

Three  Facts  That  Show  the  Kingdom  Present. — But  all 
this  is  nothing  less  than  the  kingdom  of  God.  These  are 
only  the  beginnings  and  evil  is  still  here,  but  here  are 
three  notable  facts  to  show  that  the  will  of  God's  rule  is 
already  here:  (1)  The  power  of  evil  is  being  broken.  (2) 
The  gifts  of  the  Kingdom  are  already  being  given  to  men. 
Those  gifts  we  studied  in  Chapter  XVII.  We  saw  there 
that  for  Jesus  the  Kingdom  lay  not  in  political  power  or 
outward  splendor,  but  in  sins  forgiven,  in  fellowship  with 
God,  in  the  spirit  of  love  and  good  will.  (3)  The  King- 
dom as  a  fellowship  of  the  children  of  God  is  already  here. 

The  Overcoming  of  Evil. — Jesus  saw  the  beginning  of 
the  Kingdom  first  of  all  in  the  breaking  of  the  power  of 


168  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

evil:  in  the  forgiveness  of  sinners,  the  healing  of  men's 
bodies,  and  the  easting  out  of  demons.  In  his  own  vivid 
picture  fashion  he  expressed  his  joy  when  the  disciples 
came  back  and  told  of  their  victories:  '^I  beheld  Satan 
fallen  as  lightning  from  heaven^'  (Luke  10.  18).  To  the 
Pharisees  he  declared  that  his  work  of  casting  out  demons 
was  a  sign  that  the  kingdom  of  God  was  come  upon  them ; 
not  that  it  was  near,  but  that  it  was  already  here.  Sig- 
nificant are  his  words  in  the  Nazareth  synagogue.  His 
work  of  teaching  and  healing  and  forgiving  had  been  go- 
ing on  for  some  time  before  he  returned  to  his  boyhood 
home.  There  he  read  the  passage  in  Isaiah  61  which  told 
of  the  Messiah's  work,  and  began  liis  comment  with  the 
word:  ^^To-day  hath  this  scripture  been  fulfilled  in  your 
ears"  (Luke  4.  21).  What  the  prophet  had  foreseen  was 
now  present.  And  that  is  his  message  to  John  the  Baptist, 
in  words  that  clearly  refer  to  Isaiah  61.  1  and  35.  5  and 
imply  their  fulfillment:  "Go  and  tell  John  the  things 
which  ye  hear  and  see:  the  blind  receive  their  sight,  and 
the  lame  walk,  the  lepers  are  cleansed,  and  the  deaf  hear, 
and  the  dead  are  raised  up,  and  the  poor  have  good  tidings 
preached  to  them"  (Matthew  11.  4,  5). 

The  Children  of  the  Kingdom. — In  other  passages  Jesus 
speaks  of  men  who  are  already  in  the  Kingdom.  He  tells 
how  the  publicans  and  harlots  are  pressing  in  (Matthew 
21.  31,  32).  He  tells  of  the  new  day  that  has  come  since 
the  time  of  John  the  Baptist;  before  that  men  looked 
forward  to  the  Kingdom,  now  eager  men  are  taking  it  by 
force  (Matthew  11.  12).  He  declares  that  his  disciples 
have  no  reason  for  fasting;  they  are  sons  of  the  bride- 
chamber,  and  the  bridegroom  is  with  them.  The  figure 
of  the  bridegroom  and  wedding  feast  was  recognized  by 
the  Jews  as  Messianic,  and  here  again  Jesus  is  speaking 
of  the  King  and  the  beginnings  of  the  Kingdom. 

The  Kingdom  as  Both  Peesent  and  Futuee 

The  Beginning  and  the  End. — The  Kingdom  for  Jesus 
is  both  present  and  to  come.    In  a  world  of  selfishness  and 


KINGDOM  AS  PEESENT  AND  FUTURE     169 

suffering  and  all  manner  of  sin,  he  held  that  he  who  was 
over  all  and  in  all  was  good,  and  believed  that  some  time 
this  God  was  to  prevail  in  all  the  earth.  But  the  begin- 
nings of  that  rule  he  saw  in  his  own  time.  It  was  not 
simply  that  there  was  some  love  and  righteousness  in  the 
world,  as  there  had  always  been,  but  he  saw  that  his  mes- 
sage and  his  work  were  even  then  beginning  the  new  age. 
A  new  light  and  power  were  already  at  work. 

The  Lesson  of  the  Mustard  and  the  Leaven. — This  para- 
dox of  a  kingdom  that  is  both  present  and  future  is  solved 
by  certain  of  Jesus'  own  sayings.  In  one  of  his  most  beau- 
tiful parables  Jesus  compares  the  kingdom  of  God  with 
the  growing  grain  (Mark  4.  26-29).  A  man  casts  his 
seed  upon  the  earth  and  then  goes  on  about  his  work  day 
after  day.  But  the  seed  itself  grows  quietly  and  surely 
until  at  length  the  glorious  harvest  is  ready.  So,  silently 
but  surely,  the  kingdom  of  God  grows  by  its  own  forces. 
Something  of  the  same  thought  is  present  in  the  parables 
of  the  leaven  and  the  mustard  seed.  Here,  as  elsewhere, 
Jesus  puts  the  same  thought  in  parallel  sayings  (Luke  13. 
18-21;  compare  Matthew  13.  44-46).  Both  express  the 
same  truth,  the  silent  but  sure  growth  of  the  Kingdom, 
with  this  added  thought,  that  what  is  now  so  small  and 
obscure  shall  yet  become  great  before  men;  the  tiny  mus- 
tard seed  shall  become  a  tree,  the  leaven  shall  permeate 
the  whole  lump,  the  small  shall  become  great,  the  hidden 
shall  become  manifest.  The  beginnings  of  the  Kingdom 
are  small  and  unrecognized  at  present,  but  it  will  come 
nevertheless. 

The  Principle  of  Development. — But  the  most  significant 
fact  about  these  parables  is  the  principle  of  life  and  growth 
that  Jesus  uses  to  set  forth  the  Kingdom.  The  Kingdom 
is  something  that  lives  and  grows  like  the  grain,  the 
mustard  seed,  and  the  multiplying  leaven.  We  have  some- 
thing here  very  much  the  same  as  that  idea  of  develop- 
ment which  plays  so  large  a  part  in  our  thinking  to-day. 
We  have  learned  to  regard  all  life  as  under  this  principle. 
Whether  we  study  the  physical  man  or  the  mental  and 
spiritual  man,  whether  we  consider  the  state  or  the  home 


170  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

or  industry,  all  things  human  have  come  to  be  by  process 
of  development.  This  does  not  exclude  sudden  changes, 
crises,  and  revolutions  in  the  life  of  society  as  of  the  in- 
dividual. But  we  see  that  even  these  had  their  long  and 
quiet  preparation,  and  in  turn  work  out  their  great  con- 
sequences for  after  years  under  the  same  law. 

If  this  be  true,  then  we  can  see  how  the  Kingdom  can 
be  present  and  yet  to  come.  That  is  true  of  all  life  be- 
cause it  is  all  under  the  law  of  growth.  The  living  thing 
is  always  present,  and  yet  it  is  still  to  come.  Is  this  boy 
a  man,  or  is  he  not  a  man  ?  He  is  both,  we  say,  or  rather 
he  is  a  man  in  the  making.  Is  this  man  a  Christian  or 
not?  He  is  a  Christian  so  far  as  he  belongs  to  Christ;  he 
is  not  yet  a  Christian  so  far  as  he  fails  of  reaching  the 
high  goal  of  the  spirit  of  Christ.  We  must  say  of  him, 
as  of  the  best  of  men,  "He  is  a  Christian  in  the  making.'' 
So  we  say  of  the  Kingdom :  it  is  here,  and  it  is  still  to  come, 
because  it  is  a  living  thing  that  is  growing  on  to  fullness. 

The  Coming  of  the  Kingdom 

A  Question  of  Dispute. — The  question  as  to  just  when 
the  Kingdom  is  to  come  and  under  what  circumstances 
has  been  long  a  question  of  dispute.  Most  Christian 
thinkers  of  to-day  refuse  to  be  dogmatic  on  this  point. 
They  hold  to  two  convictions.  One  is  the  assurance  that 
the  rule  of  God  is  coming  upon  earth;  the  other  is  that 
it  is  coming  by  means  of  those  spiritual  forces  that  are 
working  in  the  world  to-day.  The  details  of  time  and 
manner  they  feel  are  hidden  from  us. 

Premillennialism. — An  opposing  position  is  held  by  a 
small  but  aggressive  group  in  some  sections  of  the  church. 
These  people  have  an  elaborate  theory  of  the  coming  of 
the  Kingdom.  They  expect  the  literal  fulfillment  of  all 
the  Jewish  hopes  set  forth  in  the  Old  Testament.  The 
Jews  are  to  return  to  Palestine.  They  are  to  become  a 
political  power.  Jesus  is  to  return  in  bodily  form  and  is 
to  rule  as  the  political  as  well  as  spiritual  head,  a  throne 
being  set  up  in  Jerusalem.    The  world  is  to  be  saved  not 


KINGDOM  AS  PEESENT  AND  FUTUEE     171 

by  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  and  the  work  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  as  seen  to-day,  but  by  the  glory  and  power  of  this 
outward  and  visible  appearance  of  Jesus.  This  reign  of 
Jesus,  in  wliich  all  evil  is  to  be  overthrown,  is  to  last  for 
a  thousand  years. 

No  Definite  Answer  from  the  Gospels. — Almost  all  of 
these  ideas  are  gotten  by  a  literalizing  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment and  indirectly  from  Jewish  writings  of  later  times. 
There  is  no  definite  teacliing  upon  the  subject  in  the 
Gospels.^  The  thousand-year  reign  is  mentioned  but  once 
in  the  New  Testament,  and  this  in  a  book  whose  visions 
and  symbols  make  it  one  of  the  most  obscure  of  writings. 
The  early  church  clearly  expected  the  immediate  and 
visible  return  of  Jesus.  This  expectation  was  not  fulfilled. 
It  is  apparent  that  the  manner  as  well  as  the  time  of 
the  establishment  of  the  Kingdom  was  hidden  from  the 
disciples. 

The  Real  Issue. — The  real  question  is  simple:  Is  the 
Kingdom  to  come  from  without  or  from  within?  It  is 
God  who  is  to  establish  the  Kingdom,  that  is  clear.  But 
is  he  to  do  this  from  without,  by  some  act  of  sheer  power, 
by  some  outward  manifestation  of  splendor  and  glory  in 
connection  with  a  visible  return  of  Jesus  ?  Or  is  the  King- 
dom to  come  from  within,  by  the  word  of  his  truth  and 
the  work  of  his  Spirit  in  men^s  hearts,  by  his  spiritual 
power  transforming  men's  lives  ? 

Light  from  the  Nature  of  the  Kingdom. — Here  the 
Gospels  give  us  real  light.  They  show  us  Jesus'  conception 
of  the  Kingdom  as  a  spiritual  power  and  life.  If  the  king- 
dom of  God  is  moral  and  spiritual,  it  can  only  come  in 
moral  and  spiritual  ways.  No  external  splendor  or  power 
can  bring  it,  it  must  come  as  a  life  within.  And  Jesus' 
own  way  of  work  clearly  shows  this.  He  refused  the  way 
of  power  and  glory  for  the  winning  of  men,  as  the  tempta- 
tion story  makes  plain,  and  took  the  road  of  truth  and 
love  and  service. 

Light  from  History. — Christian  history,  through  which 

1  For  a  discussion  of  the  return  of  Jesus  and  the  so-called  apocal.vptic  passages 
of  the  Gospels,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  author's  Ldfe  of  Jesus,  Chapter  XIX. 


172  THE  TEACHINGS  OP  JESUS 

God  speaks  to  men,  confirms  this  truth.  Slowly  but  surely 
the  kingdom  of  Christ  has  been  advancing,  and  the  prog- 
ress has  always  been  in  one  way.  It  has  i3een  a  progress 
of  truth  and  life,  the  work  of  a  Spirit  moving  in  men. 
The  Spirit  of  God  using  the  truth  of  God  has  gradually 
extended  the  sway  of  that  spirit  of  Christ  whose  rule  is 
the  mark  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  It  has  been  seen  first 
of  all  in  growing  numbers  won  for  Christ,  then  in  the 
way  in  which  the  spirit  of  Christ  has  been  changing  the 
life  of  men.  Autocracy  is  yielding  to  democracy.  Slavery 
has  been  swept  away.  Ancient  evils  like  the  social  evil 
are  being  fought  as  never  before.  Temperance  reform  has 
marched  with  rapid  stride.  China  has  shown  what  can 
be  done  with  the  even  greater  evil  of  opium.  There  is  a 
new  sense  of  industrial  justice  that  grows  stronger  every 
day.  The  spirit  of  mercy  and  help  toward  the  unfortunate 
of  every  kind  was  never  so  great,  the  spirit  whose  pre- 
eminent place  Jesus  set  forth  in  Matthew  25.  35,  36. 
These  words  are  written  in  the  period  of  the  world's 
greatest  war ;  but  the  most  striking  feature  of  that  terrible 
struggle  is  the  determination  of  the  leading  nations  to 
make  this  the  last  war.  Evils  are  present  in  the  world, 
dark  and  terrible  and  mighty,  but  the  growing  spirit  of 
Christ  has  wrought  three  great  results.  First,  men  see 
evil  and  are  facing  it  as  never  before;  there  is  a  new  con- 
science. Second,  humanity  as  a  whole  never  had  higher 
ideals  than  it  has  to-day,  ideals  of  justice  and  brother- 
hood and  love,  and  the  master  of  those  ideals,  the  master 
of  the  conscience  of  men  is  Jesus  Christ.  Third,  men 
never  had  so  firm  a  hope  as  to-day  in  the  final  triumph  of 
good  and  the  coming  of  the  rule  of  God. 

The  Christian  Hope. — The  Christian  hope  should  have 
a  larger  place  in  Christian  thought.  It  should  be  for  us, 
as  for  the  early  church,  the  spring  of  confidence  and  joy. 
Back  of  all  differences  of  opinion  there  are  certain  central 
truths  upon  which  we  can  stand  together.  (1)  The  king- 
dom of  God  is  coming.  (2)  That  Kingdom  will  mean 
the  rule  of  the  spirit  of  Christ  in  all  the  life  of  the  earth, 
for  Christ  is  the  revelation  of  the  heart  and  the  will  of 


KINGDOM  AS  PEESENT  AND  FUTURE     173 

God.  (3)  It  is  our  great  task  to  preach  his  gospel,  to 
live  his  life  in  the  service  of  men,  and  to  work  for  the 
rule  of  his  spirit  not  only  in  men's  souls  but  in  all  the 
relations  and  institutions  of  earth.  (4)  The  Kingdom  it- 
self, in  every  step  of  its  coming  as  in  its  final  triumph, 
is  God's  gift.  "Fear  not,  little  flock ;  for  it  is  your  Father's 
good  pleasure  to  give  you  the  kingdom." 

Directions  foe  Study 

Scripture  references:  Mark  1.  15;  2.  19;  9.  1;  Luke  13.  28- 
30;  21.  31,  32;  22.  18;  10.  18;  4.  17-21;  Matthew  11.  2-6;  Luke 
13.  18-21. 

Read  the  first  passages  given  above  in  which  Jesus  speaks 
of  the  Kingdom  as  that  which  is  yet  to  be,  and  recall  that 
this  message  was  what  stirred  the  hearts  of  his  hearers. 

Review  in  your  mind  our  last  lessons  upon  the  Kingdom. 
If  the  Kingdom  is  of  such  a  character,  if  it  means  the  rule  of 
God  in  men,  the  presence  of  a  certain  spirit,  then  may  it  not 
already  be  present? 

Consider  the  next  following  passages  given  above,  which 
suggest  the  Kingdom  as  present,  especially  those  referring  to 
the  power  of  God  as  even  now  overcoming  evil  and  to  the  chil- 
dren of  the  Kingdom. 

Note  the  important  parables  of  the  leaven  and  mustard 
seed.  Jesus  uses  the  picture  of  something  living  to  show  how 
the  Kingdom  will  come.  The  nature  of  the  Kingdom  deter- 
mines how  it  will  come.  If  it  is  an  outward  rule,  it  can  be  set 
up  in  some  great  revolution  by  a  deed  of  power.  If  it  is  an 
inner  life,  then  it  will  grow  from  little  to  great  like  the  seed 
or  leaven. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

THE  FORMS  AND  INSTITUTIONS  OF  RELIGION 

Like  every  other  mode  of  life,  religion  has  need  of  forms 
and  institutions  in  wliich  to  express  itself  and  maintain 
its  being.  What  was  Jesus^  attitude  toward  those  that 
were  present  in  the  religion  of  his  own  day :  temple,  syna- 
gogue, Sabbath-keeping,  almsgiving,  fasting,  and  the  rest? 
And  what  of  his  relation  to  Christian  forms  and  institu- 
tions? We  have  our  sacred  day,  the  first  day  of  the  week, 
our  sacred  forms  such  as  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper, 
and  the  organized  Christian  Church  itself.  Did  he  plan 
for  these  and  found  them  ?  And  what  place  do  they  have 
in  his  conception  of  religion  ? 

A  Religion  of  the  Spirit 

The  Inner  Spirit  Supreme  with  Jesus. — The  religion  of 
Jesus  was  a  pure  religion  of  the  spirit.  Love  was  the  one 
word  in  which  he  summed  up  this  spirit.  This  love  was 
not  a  vague  sentiment;  it  meant  a  whole-hearted  trust  and 
obedience  toward  God,  and  a  spirit  of  good  will  toward 
all  men  that  went  out  in  loving  service.  But  it  still  re- 
mains that  it  was  an  inner  spirit  that  counted.  The  pure 
in  heart  are  to  see  God,  not  those  that  tithe  and  wash. 
The  test  that  he  sets  up  for  final  judgment  is  the  loving 
service  of  men,  not  the  keejDing  of  Sabbath  rules  or  the 
holding  of  opinions  (Matthew  25.  31-46). 

His  Indifference  to  rorms. — As  regards  the  forms  and 
institutions  of  his  own  day  Jesus  was  relatively  indifferent. 
The  rabbis  spent  most  of  their  time  discussing  the  rules 
about  washing  and  fasting  and  tithing  and  Sabbath-keep- 
ing. Jesus  spent  his  time  in  kindling  in  men  the  hunger 
for  God,  in  turning  them  from  their  fears  and  hatreds,  in 

174 


FORMS  AND  INSTITUTIONS  175 

calling  forth  the  spirit  of  trust  and  love.  Sometimes,  in- 
deed, he  definitely  violated  these  forms.  That  was  when 
they  got  in  the  way  of  these  higher  matters,  in  which  he 
was  interested.  If  there  was  a  man  to  be  healed,  he  disre- 
garded Sabbath  rules.  If  there  were  sinners  to  be  won, 
he  paid  no  attention  to  the  rules  of  ceremonial  purity. 
He  was  quite  ready  to  touch  the  poor  leper  and  to  have 
the  woman  with  the  issue  of  blood  touch  him,  or  to  sit  at 
table  with  men  like  Zacchseus  and  Levi. 

The  Danger  from  Forms. — Sometimes  this  indifference 
gave  way  to  severest  criticism.  That  was  when  Jesus  saw 
the  devotion  to  forms  stand  in  the  way  of  devotion  to 
God  and  of  the  service  of  men.  All  great  teachers  of  reli- 
gion have  seen  this  danger.  The  form  is  a  good  means 
but  a  bad  end;  and  it  is  always  leaving  its  place  as  means 
and  asserting  itself  as  end.  Men  come  to  keep  the  form 
for  its  own  sake  instead  of  as  a  helpful  means.  As  a  result, 
men  lose  the  heart  of  religion,  which  is  love  and  obedi- 
ence toward  God,  righteousness  and  love  in  relation  to 
men.  In  place  of  this  come  empty  formalism,  self-con- 
tent and  pride,  and  often  hypocrisy.  In  such  case,  the 
forms  of  religion  become  the  enemies  of  religion.  The 
prophets  had  seen  this  long  before  and  had  denounced 
sacrifices  and  songs.  Sabbath-keeping  and  new  moon,  and 
all  the  other  forms  of  Israel's  worship,  while  they  pleaded 
for  simple  righteousness  of  heart  and  life  (Isaiah  1.  10- 
17). 

Criticism  of  the  Forms  of  Jewish  Piety. — In  Matthew 
6.  1-18  Jesus  takes  up  the  three  chief  forms  in  which  the 
individual  Jew  expressed  his  religion:  almsgiving,  prayer, 
and  fasting.  Much  of  the  Jewish  practice  was  a  good  illus- 
tration of  the  wrong  use  of  form.  Alms  were  given  not 
so  much  for  the  sake  of  the  poor,  as  to  be  seen  of  men  and 
to  gain  merit  with  God.  Prayer  had  lost  its  meaning  as 
simple  worship  and  fellowship  with  God.  There  were 
many  words,  but  little  trust  in  God ;  there  was  much  osten- 
tation, but  little  humility  in  the  sight  of  the  Most  High. 
So  it  was  with  fasting;  there  was  little  thought  of  the 
bowed  soul,  and  much  of  what  men  might  see.    It  was  an 


176  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

ostentatious  performance.  Here  again  Jesus  stands  for 
simplicity  and  sincerity,  for  the  use  of  forms  only  so  far 
as  they  express  the  life  of  the  soul. 

The  Denunciation  of  Scribes  and  Pharisees. — All  this 
formalism  and  traditionalism  was  summed  up  in  the 
powerful  party  of  the  Pharisees  and  in  their  professional 
teachers,  the  scribes.  Jesus  had  violated  their  rules,  his 
teaching  had  contradicted  their  vfhole  position.  The  time 
came  at  last  when  he  had  to  come  out  definitely  and  de- 
nounce the  whole  system  for  which  they  stood.  It  was 
their  idea  that  the  chief  business  of  religion  was  to  observe 
the  forms  laid  down  in  the  law.  In  doing  this  they  had 
built  up  an  endless  system  of  rules,  "the  traditions  of  the 
elders,''  and  the  keeping  of  these  rules  had  become  the 
great  task  of  men.  All  this  Jesus  denounces  because  it 
stands  in  the  way  of  real  religion  (Mark  7.  1-23).  What 
is  in  the  heart  is  the  thing  that  counts. 

Jesus'  Attitude  Toward  Jewish  Institutiois  s 

Synagogue  and  Temple. — And  yet  Jesus  leaves  a  place 
for  form  and  institution  in  religion.  That  may  best  be 
shown  by  his  relation  to  synagogue  and  temple,  the  two 
great  institutions  of  the  Jewish  religion  in  his  time.  Jesus 
was  accustomed  to  attend  the  synagogue  and  kept  up  that 
custom  when  he  began  his  ministry,  using  the  opportunity 
to  teach  which  the  synagogue  afforded,  just  as  Paul  did 
later  on  (Luke  4.  16-21).  But  the  synagogue  was  not 
necessary  for  him  any  more  than  it  was  for  Paul,  and 
when  they  cast  him  forth  he  went  on  with  his  work  out- 
side of  it.  The  temple  was  the  pride  and  glory  of  every 
faithful  Jew.  We  know  what  feelings  it  stirred  in  Jesus 
as  a  boy  (Luke  2.  49).  He  did  not  lose  that  feeling  as  a 
man.  He  thought  of  it  as  a  "house  of  prayer  for  all  the 
nations,"  and  was  stirred  with  indignation  at  its  desecra- 
tion (Mark  11.  15-18).  He  used  its  courts  to  teach  in. 
And  yet  the  temple  was  not  final  or  necessary ;  in  a  short 
time,  he  declared,  not  one  stone  of  that  wonderful  struc- 
ture was  to  remain  upon  another  (Mark  13.  1,  2). 


FOEMS  AND  mSTITUTIOXS  177 

Two  Important  Sayings  Concerning  Forms. — Two  sig- 
nificant passages  give  ns  the  principles  that  -underlie  this 
practice  of  Jesus.  One  is  connected  with  the  dispute  about 
the  Sabbath  day.  The  Jews  had  made  its  observance  an 
end  in  itself;  Jesus  declares,  ^'The  Sabbath  was  made  for 
man,  and  not  man  for  the  Sabbath.^'  In  other  words,  the 
forms  and  institutions  of  religion  are  not  ends  in  them- 
selves, but  are  means  and  must  always  be  held  as  such 
(Mark  2.  23-28).  The  other  word  was  spoken  in  connec- 
tion with  a  dispute  about  fasting.  Jesus  shows  that  reli- 
gious forms  must  spring  from  religious  life.  Fasting  may 
be  all  right  in  its  place,  but  this  is  no  time  to  fast.  There 
is  a  new  life  here  and  it  must  shape  its  own  forms.  The 
new  wine  must  have  new  wine-skins,  the  old  ones  must  be 
laid  aside  (Mark  2.  18-22). 

Two  Principles. — These  are  revolutionary  words.  The 
priests  and  the  Pharisees  saw  the  logic  of  this  teaching, 
and  felt  that  it  meant  death  for  this  teacher  or  the  end 
of  their  rule.  The  Christian  Church  has  not  always  re- 
membered or  understood  these  words,  and  we  must  bear 
them  in  mind  as  we  study  the  relation  of  Jesus  to  forms 
and  institutions  in  the  Christian  Church.  Let  us  sum 
them  up  again:  (1)  Form  and  institution  are  not  sacred 
in  themselves;  they  are  means  and  not  ends.  (2)  The 
life  must  make  the  forms,  and  when  these  no  longer  serve 
the  life  they  may  need  to  be  laid  aside.  The  wine  is  never 
to  be  sacrificed  to  the  wine-skins. 

Cheistian  Institutions  and  Forms 

No  Rules  and  Directions. — If  this  be  the  teaching  of 
Jesus,  then  we  need  not  be  surprised  to  learn  that  the 
words  of  Jesus  give  us  no  full  and  definite  instructions 
t^oncerning  our  Christian  institutions,  such  as  church, 
sacraments,  Lord^s  Day,  and  Scriptures.  It  was  the  life 
about  which  Jesus  was  concerned,  and  not  the  form.  He 
gave  the  new  life,  and  through  these  years  that  life  has 
been  shaping  the  forms  in  which  to  express  itself.  The 
only  difiiculty  that  has  arisen  has  come  because  men  looked 


178  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

for  a  new  law  in  the  New  Testament,  and  expected  to  find 
rules  concerning  these  matters.  One  other  point  must  be 
remembered,  though  we  cannot  speak  with  certainty  about 
it.  If  Jesus  expected  a  speedy  personal  return  and  with 
it  the  coming  of  a  new  age  and  a  new  world,  then  there 
was  added  reason  why  he  should  not  concern  himself  about 
matters  which  would  have  to  do  with  so  very  brief  a  period. 

No  Formal  Institution  of  the  Church. — The  first  and 
most  important  question  is  that  of  the  church.  Nowhere 
do  the  Gospels  show  that  Jesus  either  organized  a  church 
or  gave  directions  concerning  its  organization.  There  are 
only  two  passages  in  the  Gospels  that  refer  to  the  church, 
both  in  the  same  Gospel  (Matthew  16.  18 ;  18.  17).  "Thou 
art  Peter,  and  upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  church.'^ 
"And  if  he  refuse  to  hear  them,  tell  it  unto  the  church." 
By  many  scholars  these  references  to  the  church  are  held 
to  come  from  a  later  period ;  but  in  any  case  there  is  here 
no  direction  about  the  founding  and  organization  of  the 
church.  Nor  are  such  directions  given  elsewhere  in  the 
New  Testament. 

Yet  It  Is  Christ's  Church. — And  yet  the  Christian 
Church  is  Christ's  church,  not  as  a  legal  organization  but 
as  the  work  of  his  spirit.  It  was  he  himself  who  began 
this  by  gathering  his  disciples  together,  and  those  who 
are  led  by  the  spirit  of  Christ  will  inevitably  come  together 
in  some  such  association.  That  spirit  means  fellowship. 
It  brings  men  together  for  common  worship  and  service. 
The  New  Testament  gives  us  no  laws  for  the  forming  of 
a  church,  but  the  Christian  life  gives  such  a  law,  not  outer 
but  inner,  the  law  of  the  spirit  of  Christ.  PauPs  converts 
gathered  together  in  little  companies  wherever  he  went, 
and  so  it  has  been  throughout  Christian  history.  Such 
groups  continue  to  be  formed  to-day. 

Concerning  the  Christian  Sunday. — The  same  situation 
appears  in  the  case  of  our  Christian  Sunday,  or  Lord's 
Day.  We  have  seen  Jesus'  attitude  toward  the  Jewish 
Sabbath  (Mark  2.  23  to  3.  6).  The  Sabbath  was  good  so 
far  as  it  served  men.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  he  simply  leaves 
the  old  forms  alone.    As  with  sacrifices  and  circumcision 


FOEMS  AND  INSTITUTIONS  179 

and  other  ceremonial  laws,  Jesus  neither  affirms  nor 
abolishes  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  nor  does  he  appoint  another 
day.  Eeligion  for  him  was  this  inner  spirit,  a  spirit  of 
freedom  and  life  that  would  find  its  own  forms  like  the 
new  wine-skins  for  the  new  wine.  Paul  led  the  early 
church  to  see  this,  and  pointed  out  that  the  Christians 
were  free  from  the  law  of  the  Sabbath  as  from  washings 
and  circumcision  and  the  rest  ('Colossians  2.  16,  17). 
Nowhere  is  there  a  suggestion  in  the  New  Testament  of 
the  simple  transference  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath  from  one 
day  of  the  week  to  another.  The  new  Christian  day  of 
rest  and  worship  springs  directly  out  of  the  spirit  of 
Christ.  The  need  of  worship,  the  need  of  fellowship,  the 
demand  of  rest  for  body  and  for  the  building  up  of  the 
soul,  all  these  required  a  stated  day.  The  grateful  love 
of  his  disciples  made  it  a  Lord's  Day,  and  the  joyous 
memory  of  his  rising  celebrated  each  week  fixed  the  first 
day  of  the  week. 

Christian  Baptism. — Even  when  we  come  to  the  sacra- 
ments, we  do  not  find  any  definite  institution  of  these  as 
rites  or  directions  as  to  their  celebration.  In  both  cases, 
however,  we  do  have  traditions  wliich  connect  them  with 
the  example  and  deed  of  Jesus.  In  the  case  of  baptism 
this  is  not  so  clear.  John's  Gospel  reports  that  the  discijDles 
(though  not  Jesus)  baptized  the  newly  won  followers 
(John  4.  1,  2).  Of  this  there  is  no  trace  in  the  other  Gos- 
pels, so  that  it  must  have  been  limited  to  the  beginnings. 
Matthew  28.  19  is  the  only  reference  in  the  other  Gospels. 
But  even  there  we  have  no  directions  with  regard  to  the 
manner  of  its  administration.  In  any  case  the  service  of 
baptism  is  a  fitting  expression  in  symbol  of  the  Christian 
spirit  and  Christian  truth.  On  the  one  hand,  it  is  the 
ceremony  marking  the  entrance  into  the  church,  on  the 
other  it  symbolizes  with  the  water  the  gift  of  the  Spirit 
of  God  coming  to  men  through  Christ  and  cleansing  men 
from  sin.  Fittingly  too  we  use  it  for  little  children,  for 
they  too  belong  to  the  Kingdom  and  to  the  church,  and 
with  them  also  God's  Spirit  is  present  in  the  Christian 
nurture  of  home  and  church. 


180  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

The  Origin  of  the  Lord's  Supper. — The  Lord^s  Supper 
seems  to  have  gro\\Ti  from  a  very  simple  act  of  Jesus.  On 
that  last  evening  as  they  sat  together  at  table,  Jesus  handed 
his  friends  the  broken  bread  and  told  them  that  in  this 
way  his  body  was  to  be  broken;  and  then  he  gave  them 
some  wine  to  drink  and  told  them  that  thus  his  blood  was 
to  be  shed,  that  his  death  was  to  seal  a  new  covenant  and 
was  to  be  for  the  saving  of  men.  Did  he  expect  them  to 
repeat  this  rite?  So  Paul  and  Luke  suggest  this  in  the 
words  which  they  alone  give :  "This  do  in  remembrance  of 
me.'^  In  the  early  church  the  observance  seems  to  have 
occurred  at  first  in  connection  with  an  ordinary  meal,  at 
which  the  congregation  was  gathered  together.  Later  it 
became  a  special  ceremony. 

These  two  sacraments  we  must  regard  as  we  do  other 
forms  in  Christianity.  They  are  divine  in  so  far  as  they 
express  the  spirit  of  Christ,  and  further  the  life  of  his 
disciples.  When  his  followers  make  them  a  matter  of 
strife,  and  even  of  warfare,  as  has  been  done  in  the  past, 
or  when  they  insist  upon  this  form  or  that  phrase  as  the 
vital  element,  then  they  are  no  longer  of  Christ.  The 
church  has  erred  much  here. 

Jesus  and  the  Scriptures. — Jesus'  attitude  toward  the 
Scriptures  again  shows  his  religion  as  a  religion  of  the 
Spirit.  His  relation  to  them  ve  have  already  considered.^ 
He  knew  them  well  and  used  them  constantly,  and  yet  he 
did  not  follow  the  letter;  he  took  the  spiritual  message 
and  left  the  rest  behind.  If  we  turn  to  the  New  Testa- 
ment, we  find  that  Jesus  made  no  provision  for  writings 
any  more  than  he  gave  directions  about  the  organization 
of  the  church.  The  Gospels  and  the  rest  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment are,  indeed,  his  product,  but  not  through  any  direc- 
tion of  his.  It  was  his  spirit,  working  in  his  disciples 
and  in  the  early  church,  that  brought  them  forth. 

Directions  foe  Study 

Read  Mark  7.  1-23;  Luke  4.  16-21;  2.  49;  Mark  11.  15-18;  13. 
1,  2;  2.  18-28;  Matthew  6.  1-18. 

^Chapter  I. 


FORMS  AND  INSTITUTIONS  181 

Review  our  past  study  and  sum  up  your  idea  of  what  reli- 
gion was  according  to  Jesus. 

Recall  his  relation  to  the  forms  and  institutions  of  religion. 
What  was  his  criticism  of  the  forms  of  Jewish  piety?  Recall 
how  indifferent  he  was  to  formal  observances  and  how  he  had 
to  criticize  the  scribes  and  Pharisees  for  their  formalism. 

Note  that  Jesus  did  have  regard  for  Jewish  forms  and  in- 
stitutions. What,  then,  is  the  Christian  position  concerning 
the  value  and  use  of  religious  forms? 

Consider  in  turn  the  different  Christian  institutions,  and  an- 
swer for  yourself  the  question  how  they  originated,  and  how 
they  should  be  used. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

JESUS'  CONCEPTION  OF  HIS  MISSION 

What  was  Jesus'  mission  upon  earth?  What  did  he 
regard  as  the  great  task  of  his  life?  There  is  danger  of 
one-sided  answers  to  this  question.  We  may  take  three 
prominent  examples  to  illustrate  this.  There  is  the  ecclesi- 
astical answer:  Jesus  came  to  establish  a  church,  to  found 
an  institution  to  which  he  could  turn  over  his  work  for 
men,  or  the  salvation  which  he  came  to  bring.  Then  there 
is  the  answer  given  by  a  certain  type  of  theology:  Jesus 
came  to  die,  to  satisfy  the  justice  of  God  by  suffering  the 
penalty  for  the  sins  of  men.  The  tendency  of  this  view 
is  to  give  very  little  meaning  to  the  life  and  teaching  of 
Jesus.  Finally,  there  is  the  view  that  Jesus  came  as  a 
great  teacher  of  truth  and  a  great  example  of  life.  No 
one  of  these  views  is  adequate,  each  brings  some  of  the 
truth. 

Why  Did  Jesus  Come? 

What  Jesus  Said  of  His  Coming. — There  are  not  a  few 
passages  in  which  Jesus  speaks  of  the  purpose  of  his  com- 
ing. Very  early  in  his  ministry,  after  some  notable  heal- 
ings at  Capernaum  which  had  stirred  the  people  and 
brought  the  crowds  in  search  of  him  the  next  morning, 
Jesus  himself  was  found  by  his  disciples  out  in  the  fields 
praying.  To  their  urgent  request  to  return  he  said :  "Let 
us  go  elsewhere  into  the  next  towns,  that  I  may  preach 
there  also;  for  to  this  end  came  I  forth"  (Mark  1.  38). 
Again  we  seem  to  have  in  Luke  4.  17-21  a  confession  of 
his  life  purpose.    He  reads  from  the  prophets  the  words: 

"He  anointed  me  to  preach  good  tidings  to  the  poor : 

182 


JESUS'  CONCEPTION  OF  HIS  MISSION     183 

He  hath  sent  me  to  proclaim  release  to  the  captives. 

And  recovering  of  sight  to  the  blind. 

To  set  at  liberty  them  that  are  bruised. 

To  proclaim  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord." 
According  to  these  two  passages,  Jesus  came  to  pro- 
claim the  good  news  of  the  Kingdom,  and  to  serve  men. 
In  two  other  notable  passages  Jesus  declares  that  he  is 
come  to  save  sinners.  "The  Son  of  man  came  to  seek  and 
to  save  that  which  was  lost,"  he  declares  to  those  who 
criticized  him  for  going  in  to  Zacchasus  (Luke  19.  10). 
And  when  they  criticized  him  at  another  time  for  a  similar 
reason,  he  says,  "T  came  not  to  call  the  righteous,  but 
sinners"  (Matthew  9.  13).  Finally,  there  are  the  solemn 
words  in  which  he  looks  forward  to  his  death.  The  first 
was  spoken  not  long  after  Peter's  confession:  "The  Son 
of  man  also  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minis- 
ter, and  to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many"  (Mark  10. 
45).  The  second  is  from  the  time  of  the  Last  Supper,  and 
speaks  again  of  the  purpose  of  his  death:  "This  is  my 
blood  of  the  covenant,  which  is  poured  out  for  many" 
(Mark  14.  24). 

The  Supreme  Purpose:  The  Kingdom. — Back  of  these 
varied  forms  of  statement  there  lies  one  great  purpose. 
Jesus  came  to  bring  in  the  kingdom  of  God.  That  King- 
dom, as  we  have  seen,  was  the  life  of  God  ruling  the  lives 
of  men.  He  came  in  order  that  men  might  have  this  life 
as  sons  of  God,  that  men  might  be  joined  together  in  a 
new  family  of  God,  a  fellowship  of  loving  service,  of 
righteous  living  and  mutual  good  will.  He  came  that 
there  might  be  a  new  world,  in  which  the  life  of  God 
should  make  men  rich,  in  which  the  will  of  God  should  be 
done  in  all  the  life  of  men.  Nothing  less  than  this  was 
the  purpose  of  Jesus.  It  was  to  save  the  world,  not  to 
save  a  few  men.  It  was  to  make  a  new  world,  not  to 
save  a  few  souls  out  of  the  world.  If  he  emphasized  the 
saving  of  sinners  and  the  calling  of  men  to  repentance,  it 
was  because  he  knew  that  impenitent  sin  was  the  one 
great  obstacle  that  stood  in  the  way  of  that  new  life  from 
God  and  that  new  world  of  God's  rule. 


184  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

What  Did  He  Have  to  Do  ? 

He  Came  to  Preach. — What  did  Jesus  need  to  do  in 
order  to  the  establishment  of  this  Kingdom?  His  first 
task  was  to  preach.  "To  this  end  came  I  forth,"  he  de- 
clared. So  the  evangelists  describe  his  work  at  its  begin- 
ning (Mark  1.  14,  15).  Such  it  remained  to  the  very  end. 
It  was  as  a  teacher  that  his  disciples  first  regarded  him, 
and  he  never  lost  that  place.  It  was  a  title  that  he  chose 
also  for  himself  (Mark  14.  14).  He  had  a  message  to 
bring,  a  revelation  to  make:  "Neither  doth  any  know  the 
Father,  save  the  Son,  and  he  to  whomsoever  the  Son 
willeth  to  reveal  him"  (Matthew  11.  27).  It  was  through 
the  truth  that  Jesus  expected  to  bring  life  to  men.  He  did 
not  give  men  rites  and  forms,  and  tell  them  that  they  were 
to  gain  life  in  this  way.  He  did  not  give  them  rules  to 
follow.  He  wanted  men  to  see,  to  know.  "The  truth  shall 
make  you  free."  He  must  make  men  see  God,  see  his 
nearness,  his  love,  his  power,  his  gracious  purpose  to  save 
them  and  to  establish  his  rule.  Then  he  could  call  men 
to  repent,  then  he  could  summon  them  to  cast  aside  their 
enslaving  fears  and  worries  and  their  selfishness  and  sin, 
and  receive  this  life  of  God.  Such  teaching  as  his  was  no 
mere  work  of  intellect,  no  cold  setting  forth  of  ideas.  It 
meant  loving  and  living,  and  in  the  end  suffering  and 
death.  The  cross  itself  was  the  last  great  parable  of  that 
Teacher  who  spoke  so  often  to  men  in  pictures.  In  this 
sense,  the  whole  work  of  Jesus  may  be  considered  as  a 
work  of  teaching. 

He  Game  to  Live  a  Life. — Jesus'  second  task  was  the 
living  of  a  life.  That,  indeed,  was  a  part  of  his  teaching. 
It  was  his  life  that  gave  power  and  meaning  and  beauty 
to  his  words.  He  could  say,  "I  have  given  you  an  example, 
that  ye  also  should  do  as  I  have  done  to  you"  (John  13. 
15).  He  bade  men  learn  not  only  through  his  words  but 
by  his  spirit  and  life :  "Come  unto  me,  .  .  .  learn  of  me ; 
for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  in  heart"  (Matthew  11.  28,  29). 
Here  was  a  teaching  that  every  man  could  read  and  that 
no  man  could  forget.     He  did  not  in  so  many  words 


JESUS'  CONCEPTION  OF  HIS  MISSION     185 

say,  '^I  am  come  to  lead  such  a  life  before  you/'  but  look- 
ing back  we  can  see  here  the  good  purpose  of  God.  More 
than  any  precept  that  he  gave  was  the  illuminating  guid- 
ance of  his  own  life,  showing  men  what  they  should  be. 
Better  than  his  best  parable  about  God  was  his  own  gracious 
and  holy  spirit  as  a  revelation  of  God's  heart.  So  the 
early  church,  with  Paul,  saw  "the  light  of  the  knowledge 
of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ"  (2 
Corinthians  4.  6). 

He  Came  to  Serve  Men. — Jesus  came  to  be  a  servant. 
This  was  not  an  incident  in  his  life,  it  was  his  vocation. 
"The  Son  of  man  came  to  minister,"  he  said  (Mark  10. 
45) .  "I  am  in  the  midst  of  you  as  he  that  serveth"  (Luke 
22.  27).  i^e  had  recognized  this  to  be  his  calling  at  the 
beginning.  The  temptation  story  is  eloquent  proof  how 
he  faced  the  alternative,  whether  he  should  take  the  ex- 
pected way  of  power  and  rule,  or  that  of  humble  and 
loving  ministry  to  men.  It  was  by  service  that  he  showed 
men  the  spirit  of  God  as  a  spirit  of  mercy  and  good  will. 
It  was  by  service  that  he  sought  to  create  a  new  people 
of  God,  ministering  to  their  needs,  winning  them  from 
their  sins.  And  by  his  service  he  showed  men  what  the 
life  was  to  be  in  the  new  Kingdom,  whose  rule  was  to  be 
not  self-seeking  and  master}^,  but  good  will  and  helpful- 
ness (Mark  10.  42-45).  We  must  not  think  of  this  service 
as  the  casual  giving  of  bread  here  or  of  healing  there,  as 
a  lesser  form  of  work  before  his  great  work  of  giving  his 
life.  His  service  of  deed,  like  the  service  of  teaching,  is 
one  with  his  final  and  greatest  deed,  and  the  meaning  of 
it  all  is  the  giving  of  life.  All  true  service  of  men  is  the 
giving  of  life.  The  highest  service  is  that  in  which  we  give 
most  of  ourselves  and  most  to  others. 

Jesus  Came  to  Give  His  Life 

A  Conviction  That  Came  Gradually. — Jesus  came  not 
only  to  live  for  men  but  to  give  his  life  in  death.  We 
do  not  know  at  just  what  point  in  his  life  Jesus  realized 
that  his  death  was  to  be  a  part  of  his  obedience  to  God 


186  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

and  his  service  of  men.  The  study  of  his  life  shows  how 
he  depended  upon  his  Father  for  guidance.  His  way  was 
not  one  clearly  seen  in  all  its  course  from  the  beginning. 
Its  great  moments  are  marked  by  struggle.  That  is  espe- 
cially seen  at  three  points:  the  temptation,  the  time  of 
the  confession  and  transfiguration,  and  the  prayer  in  the 
garden.  All  three  of  these  struggles  bear  upon  this  ques- 
tion of  his  death.  The  first  more  remotely;  but  when 
he  decided  in  the  wilderness  to  take  the  way  of  humble 
service,  to  trust  his  Father  instead  of  seeking  to  save  him- 
self, there  was  probably  even  then  in  his  mind  the  question 
as  to  what  danger  the  future  might  bring. 

How  He  Learned. — His  ministry  had  not  advanced  far 
before  the  question  became  more  definite.  On  the  one 
hand  appeared  the  dangers  from  his  foes,  on  the  other  it 
became  ever  more  clear  that  the  way  of  duty  led  to  Jeru- 
salem with  all  its  perils.  "The  days  will  come,'^  said  Jesus 
at  this  time,  "when  the  bridegroom  shall  be  taken  away 
from  them,  and  then  will  they  fast''  (Matthew  9.  15). 
Driven  from  Galilee,  wandering  among  the  Gentiles,  he 
faces  the  question  in  a  night  of  struggle  that  ends  in  the 
transfiguration.  From  that  time  in  clear  and  definite 
words  he  tells  his  disciples  that  he  must  go  to  Jerusalem, 
and  that  he  must  suffer  death  there  at  the  hands  of  his 
foes  (Mark  8.  31;  9.  31;  10.  33,  34).  The  end  of  John 
the  Baptist  and  the  fate  of  the  prophets  help  to  point  the 
way  (Matthew  17.  12;  23.  29-31).  "It  cannot  be  that  a 
prophet  perish  out  of  Jerusalem"  (Luke  13.  31-35).  He 
suggests  it  even  to  his  foes  in  the  parable  of  the  wicked 
husbandmen  by  his  reference  to  the  son  (Mark  12.  6-8). 
He  sets  his  face  steadfastly  toward  this  dark  future,  but 
the  burden  weighs  heavily  upon  his  soul.  "I  have  a  baptism 
to  be  baptized  with;  and  how  am  I  straitened  till  it  be 
accomplished!"  (Luke  12.  50). 

How  Jesus  Thought  of  His  Death. — How,  then,  did  Jesus 
conceive  of  his  death  as  being  a  part  of  his  work?  Jesus 
does  not,  indeed,  speak  anywhere  with  fullness  upon  this 
matter.  His  words  contain  only  intimations  and  sug- 
gestion, which  it  is  not  right  for  us  to  press  too  far.    And 


JESUS'  CONCEPTION  OF  HIS  MISSION    187 

yet  certain  things  are  quite  clear.  (1)  Jesus  did  not  think 
of  his  death  as  a  tragedy  or  an  accident,  but  as  the  will 
of  the  Father  for  his  life.  (2)  He  himself  freely  and 
willingly  chooses  that  death.  The  choice  is  not  made  with- 
out a  terrible  struggle,  to  which  other  passages  witness 
besides  the  memorable  one  that  tells  of  Gethsemane.  But 
it  is  freely  made.  He  need  not  have  gone  to  Jerusalem. 
Once  there,  he  might  easily  have  escaped.  His  enemies, 
who  feared  the  people,  would  probably  have  been  only  too 
glad  if  he  had  quietly  given  up  his  public  ministry  and 
gone  away.  We  may  say  that  he  was  murdered,  but  we 
must  also  say  that  he  lay  down  his  life;  and  the  latter  is 
the  deeper  truth.  (3)  He  saw  that  his  death  had  a  mean- 
ing. It  was  not  only  a  part  of  his  obedience  to  God,  but 
it  was  a  part  of  his  service  to  men,  a  part  of  his  work  in 
bringing  in  the  Kingdom. 

Some  Sayings  Concerning  His  Death. — Two  words  of 
Jesus  concerning  his  death  demand  a  closer  study.  In 
Mark  10.  45  he  speaks  of  giving  his  life  as  a  ransom  for 
many.  In  Mark's  account  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  the  brief- 
est and  perhaps  the  most  faithful,  he  says :  "This  is  my 
blood  of  the  covenant,  which  is  poured  out  for  many" 
(Mark  14.  24).  Matthew  adds  to  this  account  the  words, 
^^unto  remission  of  sins."  In  so  doing  he  only  gives  what 
was  in  the  thought  of  the  church  from  the  beginning. 
According  to  these  words,  what  meaning  did  Jesus  give  to 
his  death?  (1)  His  death  means  a  service  for  men.  His 
blood  is  poured  out  for  many,  his  life  is  given  for  many. 
But  just  how  does  this  serve  men?  We  must  say  (2), 
by  his  death  God  establishes  a  covenant  with  men.  Luke 
speaks  of  it  as  the  new  covenant.  That  is  clearly  implied, 
for  the  Jew  would  at  once  contrast  it  with  the  old  cove- 
nant. All  the  way  through  here  Jesus  is  using  the  lan- 
guage of  picture  and  allusion.  As  the  old  covenant  estab- 
lished a  people  of  God,  so  will  the  new  covenant.  His 
death  is  to  make  manifest  God's  love  and  purpose,  and 
thus  a  new  people  is  to  be  gathered.  (3)  His  death  in 
some  way  is  to  mean  the  forgiveness  of  men,  the  saving  of 
men  from  their  sins. 


188  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

Jesus'  Death  Has  Saved  Men. — It  is  in  this  last  matter 
that  men  have  disputed  most  as  to  the  meaning  of  Jesus' 
words.  We  who  have  noted  the  Master's  picture  method 
of  teaching  should  not  be  led  astray  here.  He  is  using 
the  picture  of  the  captive  or  slave  for  whom  a  price  must 
be  paid.  Men  are  in  bondage,  they  are  not  free.  By  the 
word  of  truth  and  by  his  deeds  of  love  he  has  been  seeking 
to  deliver  men  from  this  slavery  of  ignorance  and  fear  and 
sin,  and  now  it  is  to  cost  his  life.  His  death  is  to  save 
men  whom  this  life  could  not  win.  How  true  his  word 
has  proven !  It  is  his  death  that  has  won  men.  It  is  the 
cross  that  has  drawn  men.  That  cross  has  somehow 
gathered  unto  itself  all  the  meaning  of  his  teaching,  all 
the  glory  of  his  life,  all  the  purpose  of  his  coming.  Here 
men  have  seen  what  sin  means,  from  which  such  a  deed  of 
darkness  might  come.  Here  men  have  seen  God's  holiness. 
Here  has  appeared  the  love  of  God,  God's  infinite  affec- 
tion set  forth  so  simply  that  all  might  understand,  so 
movingly  that  multitudes  have  felt  and  made  answer. 
Leaving  aside  all  theory  for  the  time,  the  fact  remains 
clear  that  the  cross  of  Christ  has  ransomed  the  many,  and 
has  brought  to  many  the  remission  of  their  sins. 

DnjECTioNS  FOE  Sttjdy 

Scripture  references:  Mark  1.  38;  Luke  4.  17-21;  19.  10; 
Matthew  9.  13;  Mark  10.  42-45;  8.  29-31;  9.  31;  10.  33,  34;  14. 
22-25. 

Read  through  the  Scripture  references  and  recall  any  others 
that  you  can  in  which  Jesus  speaks  of  the  purpose  of  his 
coming.  State  for  yourself  and  in  your  own  language  what 
that  purpose  was. 

He  who  plans  to  do  a  certain  work  must  stand  ready  to 
do  that  which  leads  to  his  end.  What  was  it  that  Jesus  had 
to  do  as  means  to  his  great  end,  and  how  did  these  means  serve 
that  end? 

Consider  in  turn  these  different  tasks.  He  came  to  give 
men  the  truth,  to  lead  a  life  in  their  midst,  to  serve  them. 
Under  each  of  these  points,  consider  what  Jesus  said  as  bearing 
upon  this  work,  and  how  this  particular  work  helped  him  to 
accomplish  his  end. 

In  your  own  faith  and  in  your  own  life,  what  has  the  death 
of  Jesus  meant? 


CHAPTEE  XXIII 

WHAT  JESUS  THOUGHT  OF  HIMSELF 

Paul  summed  up  the  message  of  the  early  church  in  the 
words,  ^'Jesus  Christ,  and  him  crucified."  Tlirough  all 
the  ages  the  Christian  Church  has  made  this  its  message; 
not  simply  Jesus^  teaching  or  his  life,  but  first  of  all  Jesus 
himself.  The  question  of  the  person  of  Christ  has  been 
of  deepest  interest.  This  is  not  the  place  to  study  the 
churches  doctrine  of  Christ.  We  have,  however,  an  even 
more  important  question:  What  did  Jesus  think  of  him- 
self? 

What  Jesus  Says  of  Himself 

The  Silence  of  His  Earlier  Ministry. — It  is  generally 
agreed  that  the  first  three  Gospels  give  the  most  faithful 
account  of  Jesus'  teaching,  and  the  study  of  these  Gospels 
has  shown  us  that  Jesus*  great  concern  was  to  point  men 
to  God.  He  says  little  of  himself,  especially  in  the  earlier 
days;  it  is  of  the  Father  that  he  speaks,  and  of  the  com- 
ing rule  of  God.  It  is  the  life  with  God  that  he  sets  forth, 
that  abundant  life  which  comes  only  when  God  rules  in 
men. 

Yet  even  in  these  earlier  days  we  fijid  expressions  con- 
cerning himself  that  would  be  most  astonishing  from  any 
other  man.  There  is  the  note  of  authority  with  wliich  he 
declares,  "But  I  say  unto  you,"  an  authority  which  he 
sets  even  against  the  sacred  writings  of  his  people  (Mat' 
thew  5.  22,  28,  3i,  39).  Quietly  he  asserts  that  he  is 
greater  than  the  temple,  the  nation's  greatest  glory  next 
to  the  law,  that  he  is  greater  than  Jonah  or  Solomon  (Mat- 
thew 12.  6,  41,  42).  He  declares  that  John  the  Baptist 
was  the  greatest  of  the  prophets,  but  with  himself  there 

189 


190  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

has  come  a  new  age  so  much  more  wonderful  that  the 
least  in  the  kingdom  of  God  is  greater  than  John.  He 
summons  his  followers  to  rejoice  because  they  live  in  such 
an  age :  "Blessed  are  the  eyes  which  see  the  things  that  ye 
see:  for  I  say  unto  you,  that  many  prophets  and  kings 
desired  to  see  the  things  which  ye  see,  and  saw  them  not; 
and  to  hear  the  things  which  ye  hear,  and  heard  them  not" 
(Luke  10.  23,24). 

Sonship  Before  Messiahship. — What  was  the  underlying 
fact  in  Jesus'  thought  of  himself?  Was  it  that  he  was 
the  Messiah  ?  That,  of  course,  was  the  thought  that  domi- 
nated the  early  church:  Jesus  is  the  Messiah,  the  long- 
expected  Deliverer.  And  so  it  happened  very  soon  that 
the  Greek  word  for  "Messiah,"  the  "Anointed  One,"  came 
to  be  used  as  a  proper  name,  and  men  called  him  Christ. 
Very  commonly  too,  as  men  have  studied  the  person  of 
Jesus,  they  have  begun  with  the  thought  of  Messiah  and 
then  moved  on  and  up  to  the  thought  that  he  was  Son  of 
God.  And  yet,  reading  the  Gospel  pages  carefully,  we  must 
conclude  that  the  first  and  deepest  fact  in  Jesus'  thought 
of  himself  was  not  Messiahship,  but  Sonship.  He  claims 
Messiahship,  but  the  Sonship  comes  first  (Matthew  16. 
13-17). 

The  Experience  of  Sonship  in  Jesus'  Life. — This  spirit 
of  Sonship  is  evident  in  all  the  life  of  Jesus.  The  boy's 
first  temple  visit  (Luke  2.  41-52)  shows  the  devotion  to 
his  Father  and  the  sense  of  his  Father's  presence  which 
marked  all  his  life.  On  the  other  hand,  he  knew  his 
Father's  love  and  purpose  for  him.  That  fact  stands  out 
in  his  great  experience  of  baptism,  when  the  voice  comes 
to  him  saying,  "Thou  art  my  beloved  Son;  in  thee  I  am 
well  pleased."  All  through  his  life  fiows  this  great  cur- 
rent: on  the  one  hand  his  utter  devotion  to  God  and  per- 
fect fellowship  with  him,  on  the  other  the  knowledge  that 
his  life  and  his  work  are  all  of  God  and  in  God's  hand. 
That  assurance  stands  the  test  of  the  last  terrible  days. 
It  cries  out  "Abba,  Father"  in  the  struggle  of  the  garden, 
and  breathes  forth  upon  the  cross  its  last  words,  "Father, 
into  thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit." 


WHAT  JESUS  THOUGHT  OF  HIMSELF     191 

A  Unique  Sonship 

Jesus  Is  the  Son. — But  the  Sonship  of  Jesus  means  some- 
thing more.  We  think  of  him  not  simply  as  a  son  of  God, 
but  as  tlie  Son  of  God.  Does  this  rightly  represent  Jesus^ 
own  thought?  Certain  facts  are  significant  here.  Jesus 
seeks  to  lead  men  into  the  same  life  of  sonship  that  he 
lives,  and  yet  it  is  always  apparent  that  he  is  the  source  and 
they  take  from  him.  He  teaches  them  to  pray,  but  it  is 
nowhere  said  that  he  prays  with  them.  He  bids  them  re- 
pent, but  himself  shows  no  need  of  repentance.  And  so 
we  are  not  surprised  when  he  speaks  of  himself  as  "the 
Son^^ ;  he  knows  that  his  Sonship  is  unique. 

The  Great  Invitation. — One  passage  speaks  to  us  here 
with  special  power  and  beauty.  It  was  spoken  at  a  time 
of  disappointment,  when  to  human  eyes  his  work  seemed 
a  failure.  These  great  words  show  how  little  Jesus  was 
dependent  upon  outward  approval,  how  wholly  the  sources 
of  strength  and  insight  were  within.  Coming  from  Jesus' 
deepest  soul,  they  form  a  lyric  which  may  well  be  printed 
in  verse  form  (Matthew  11.  25-30). 

"I  thank  thee,  0  Father,  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth. 
That  thou  didst  hide  these  things  from  the  wise  and 

understanding. 
And  didst  reveal  them  unto  babes : 
Yea,  Father,  for  so  it  was  well-pleasing  in  thy  sight. 

"All  things  have  been  delivered  unto  me  of  my  Father : 
And  no  one  knoweth  the  Son,  save  the  Father ; 
Neither  doth  any  know  the  Father,  save  the  Son, 
And  he  to  whomsoever  the  Son  willeth  to  reveal  him. 

"Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden, 
And  I  will  give  you  rest. 
Take  my  yoke  upon  you,  and  learn  of  me ; 
For  I  am  meek  and  lowly  in  heart : 
And  ye  shall  find  rest  unto  your  souls. 
For  my  yoke  is  easy,  and  my  burden  is  light.'' 


192  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

The  Son  Has  Life  for  Men. — Here  is  no  mere  learner 
saying,  "Come,  let  us  seek  the  Lord  together/'  This  is 
no  mere  teacher  saying,  "Here  is  my  message,  take  it  and 
go."  Two  facts  stand  out  clearly  in  this  passage:  First, 
Jesus  knows  that  he  stands  in  a  special  relation  to  the 
Father.  Second,  because  of  this  relation  to  the  Father, 
he  has  a  special  mission  to  men.  In  him  is  the  truth  of 
God,  in  him  is  the  life.  And  so  he  calls  men  to  himself: 
"Come  unto  me,"  ^learn  of  me,"  "take  my  yoke,"  "find  my 
rest." 

Jesus'  Use  of  "Son  of  Man." — "Son  of  man"  was  the 
phrase  that  Jesus  used  in  speaking  of  himself.  No  less 
than  eighty  times  does  the  phrase  occur  in  the  Gospels. 
What  did  it  mean  for  Jesus  ?  ( 1 )  It  does  not  refer  espe- 
cially to  the  humanity  of  Jesus,  either  as  meaning  that  he 
was  one  among  men,  or  that  he  was  the  ideal  man.  (2) 
It  probably  means  the  Messiah.  We  know  that  some  Jew- 
ish writers  had  already  used  the  phrase  in  that  sense,  and 
had  interpreted  the  passage  Daniel  7.  13  as  meaning  this. 
(3)  Why,  then,  did  Jesus  use  a  phrase  whose  meaning 
would  not  be  clear  and  definite  to  those  who  heard  it? 
The  answer  is  most  suggestive.  First  of  all,  he  used  it 
because  this  title,  so  humble  and  so  human,  of  all  the 
Messianic  names  had  the  least  suggestion  of  the  claim  of 
earthly  royalty  and  power.  It  fitted  in  with  the  whole 
spirit  and  life  of  Jesus,  with  his  ministry  of  service.  In 
the  second  place,  just  because  men  would  not  necessarily 
understand  it  as  Messianic,  it  made  it  possible  for  Jesus 
to  fill  it  with  his  own  meaning.  Messiah  to-day  is  a  word 
that  has  many  meanings.  Christian,  Jewish,  even  pagan; 
but  Son  of  man  has  only  one  meaning  for  us,  a  meaning 
full  of  the  glory  of  love  and  sacrifice.  It  is  an  exalted 
name,  but  it  does  not  rest  on  thoughts  of  earthly  glory 
or  external  power. 

Jesus  as  Saviour 

Sonship  for  Jesus  Meant  Being  Saviour  and  Servant. — 

The  Sonship  of  Jesus  is  always  to  be  connected  with  his 
Saviourhood.     Wherever  in  the  first  three  Gospels  there 


WHAT  JESUS  THOUGHT  OF  HIMSELF     19^ 

is  a  reference  to  Jesns^  Sonship  it  is  always  joined  with 
the  thought  of  his  serving  and  saving  men.  He  hears 
the  voice  at  his  baptism,  but  the  voice  that  speaks  of  the 
"beloved  Son'^  is  one  that  calls  him  to  a  task.  In  the 
temptation  story  the  two  thoughts  are  joined  again.  "If 
thou  art  the  Son  of  God/'  says  the  tempter,  "then  the 
kingdoms  of  the  world  should  be  thine.''  "If  I  am  the 
Son  of  God,"  says  Jesus,  "then  I  must  obey  and  serve  and, 
if  needs  be,  suffer."  Sonship  meant  for  him  the  task  rather 
than  the  special  privilege.  When  the  disciples  confess  him 
as  Messiah  he  begins  at  once  to  teach  them  the  law  of 
service  and  to  speak  of  his  death  for  men  (Mark  10.  45). 
Paul  sets  forth  one  side  of  this  truth  in  the  wonderful 
passage  of  Philippians  2.  5-11. 

The  Son  as  the  Saviour  of  Men. — The  Sonship  of  Jesus 
leads  us  thus  to  Saviourhood;  because  he  is  the  Son  of 
God  he  becomes  to  us  the  Saviour,  and  because  we  know 
him  as  Saviour  we  see  that  he  is  Son.  He  found  men 
burdened  and  enslaved.  There  was  the  load  of  fear  and 
anxiety,  the  slavery  of  greed  and  selfishness  and  hatred 
and  lust.  And  religion  itself,  which  should  have  brought 
peace  and  strength,  in  many  cases  had  but  added  to  the 
load.  Jesus  knew  that  he  had  within  him  the  life  which 
men  needed.  With  all  his  burdens,  there  was  peace  in 
his  heart;  with  all  the  danger,  there  was  joy  and  trust 
in  God.  Because  he  is  Son  of  God,  therefore,  and  possesses 
this,  he  becomes  Saviour  of  men.  Come  unto  me,  he  says ; 
leave  the  yoke  of  the  law  and  take  my  yoke,  for  it  will 
bring  you  rest. 

Jesus  as  Lord  and  Master 

Jesus  Is  Lord  Because  He  Saves. — In  taking  up  these 
aspects  of  the  person  of  Jesus  we  have  been  following  a 
definite  order,  and  there  is  reason  for  this.  First  comes 
the  Sonship  of  Jesus,  his  life  of  perfect  oneness  vrith  the 
Father.  ISText  comes  his  Saviourhood;  because  this  life  is 
in  him  he  can  deliver  men  and  give  them  the  new  life. 
And  now  there  comes  his  Lordship :  Jesus  is  Lord  of  men 
because  he  is  Saviour  of  men.    That  is  true  in  Christian 


194  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

experience.  Men  follow  him  and  obey  him  because  of 
what  he  has  done  for  them.  Because  he  has  given  them 
life,  they  cry  out:  "Lord,  to  whom  shall  we  go?  Thou 
hast  the  words  of  eternal  life."  He  is  Master  because  he 
has  the  truth.  He  is  our  Lord  because  he  has  the  power 
to  save.  What  is  seen  in  Christian  experience  is  reflected 
in  the  Gospels.  Jesus  does  not  begin  his  ministry  by  the 
assertion  of  authority  and  the  claim  of  Lordship.  He 
begins  by  teaching  and  healing  and  saving.  Then,  be- 
cause he  has  the  truth  of  God,  he  asserts  his  authority  to 
speak;  and  because  he  brings  life  he  asserts  his  right  to 
command. 

His  Authority  As  One  Who  Has  the  Truth. — Note  how 
Jesus  asserts  his  authority  as  teacher  (Matthew  23.  8-10). 
He  quotes  no  scribe  or  rabbi,  like  other  Jewish  teachers. 
He  needs  no  authority,  not  even  that  of  the  Old  Testament. 
He  appeals,  it  is  true,  to  the  latter,  but  he  does  not  depend 
upon  it;  he  speaks  from  within.  He  does  not  even  say 
with  the  prophet,  "Thus  saith  the  Lord,"  but  simply,  "I 
say  unto  you";  "No  one  knoweth  the  Father,  save  the 
Son."  When  the  test  comes  he  is  not  simply  independent 
but  he  can  oppose  all  else.  He  opposes  the  authority  of  the 
scribes,  the  unquestioned  leaders.  He  denounces  the 
revered  traditions,  more  binding  upon  the  Jew  than  the 
law  itself.  He  holds  himself  greater  than  temple  or 
prophet.  He  even  puts  aside  the  law  itself.  And  all  this 
is  done  quietly,  simply,  as  by  one  who  is  entirely  sure  of 
himself. 

His  Authority  in  Healing  and  Forgiving. — There  is 
utter  dependence  upon  the  Father,  but  there  is  also  absolute 
independence  of  all  else.  He  knows  that  the  power  of  God 
and  the  love  of  God  are  in  him,  just  as  he  knows  the  truth 
of  God  within  him.  "Arise,"  he  says  to  the  sufferer.  "Thy 
sins  are  forgiven,"  he  says  to  the  sinner. 

His  Authority  in  Commanding  Men. — Jesus  shows  his 
authority  by  the  way  in  which  he  commands  men.  He 
does  not  command  their  bodies;  he  does  not  levy  taxes, 
nor  put  a  sword  into  their  hand.  But  he  claims  a  sover- 
eign authority  in  the  sphere  of  conscience  and  will,  and 


WHAT  JESUS  THOUGHT  OF  HIMSELF     195 

he  rules  as  Lord  of  men^s  souls.  Nor  is  it  little  that  he 
asks.  He  is  satisfied  with  no  tenth  of  a  man's  income  or 
seventh  of  his  days.  Words  and  forms  and  outward  gifts 
are  not  enough;  he  demands  the  inmost  spirit,  the  inner 
thought.  He  bids  men  leave  home  and  kindred;  he  de- 
clares that  his  followers  must  hold  their  lives  forfeit  to 
him  as  truly  as  the  man  condemned  who  goes  out  carrying 
his  cross.  He  puts  all  his  astonishing  claim  in  two  words 
and  says,  "Follow  me." 

His  Right  to  Judge. — And,  finally,  in  one  remarkable 
passage  he  tells  how  all  the  nations  are  to  be  gathered  be- 
fore him  and  how  he  is  to  judge  them  and  separate  them 
(Matthew  25.  31-34).  Such  a  claim  has  seemed  to  some 
out  of  keeping  with  the  Hfe  of  one  who  went  about  humbly 
to  teach  and  to  forgive.  But  it  is  this  very  work  of  teach- 
ing and  saving  which  in  the  end  makes  Jesus  the  judge 
of  men.  The  fourth  Gospel  puts  it  in  brief  but  pregnant 
words :  "This  is  the  judgment,  that  the  light  is  come  into 
the  world,  and  men  loved  the  darkness  rather  than  the 
light''  (John  3.  19).  Every  truth  becomes  a  test;  every 
opportunity  is  at  the  same  time  a  judgment.  This  fact 
lies  back  of  the  great  passage,  Matthew  12.  22-45,  the 
heart  of  which  is  found  in  the  words,  "If  I  by  the  Spirit 
of  God  cast  out  demons,  then  is  the  kingdom  of  God  come 
upon  you."  Because  Jesus  is  the  light  and  the  life  of 
men,  he  becomes  the  judge  of  men.  It  is  God's  love  and 
God's  will  that  stand  before  men  when  Jesus  speaks  to 
them.  They  judge  themselves  by  what  they  do  with  him. 
In  the  great  judgment  scene  of  Matthew  25,  Jesus  simply 
says  in  effect  to  those  on  the  left :  You  refused  my  gospel 
of  love  and  good  will  as  the  rule  of  your  life;  by  that  you 
have  judged  yourselves.  It  is  not  the  law  that  judges 
those  who  refuse  mercy;  it  is  the  gospel  of  mercy  itself 
that  condemns. 

Directions  foe  Study 

Scripture  references:  Matthew  12.  6,  41,  42;  Luke  10.  23,  24; 
Matthew  16.  13-17;  IL  25-30;  Mark  10.  45;  Matthew  23.  8- 
10;  25.  31-34. 

Consider  first  how  utterly  unassuming  Jesus  was,  how  little 


196  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

lie  demanded  for  himself.  Then  note  some  of  the  astonishing 
claims  that  he  made. 

Consider  the  fact  of  Jesus  as  Son.  Note  how  simple  the 
thought  is,  and  how  Jesus  began  with  this  as  boy  at  Nazareth 
(read  the  story  of  the  temple  visit).  Then  note  how  high 
this  thought  leads. 

State  for  yourself  In  what  way  Jesus  was  Saviour  to  the 
men  of  his  day.  What  did  he  give  them?  What  did  he  do 
for  them?    What  does  he  do  for  us? 

In  what  ways  did  he  show  himself  to  be  Master? 

In  how  far  is  the  Lordship  of  Jesus  a  fact  in  the  world  to- 
day? Consider  his  Lordship  over  men  in  their  ideals,  their 
faith,  and  their  life.  How  far  are  our  ideas  of  God  and  our 
ideals  of  right  and  wrong  determined  by  Jesus? 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

THE  CHARACTEE  OF  JESUS  AS  SEEN  IN  RELA- 
TION TO  MEN  AND  TO  HIS  WORK 

"Chkistianity  is  not  so  much  the  advent  of  a  better 
doctrine,  as  of  a  perfect  character/^  wrote  Horace  Bush- 
nell.  It  is  this  character  which  we  are  now  to  consider. 
Such  a  subject  might  properly  conclude  a  study  of  the  life 
of  Jesus.  It  has  its  place,  however,  as  a  part  of  the  study 
of  Jesus'  teachings  also.  As  with  no  other  teacher,  Jesus' 
word  and  life  were  one.  The  perfect  character  is  a  part 
of  the  better  doctrine.  Indeed,  that  character  gives  us  his 
teaching  in  a  way  that  his  words  cannot  do.  It  is  in  the 
life  that  he  lived  that  we  see  all  that  the  heart  of  God  is, 
all  that  the  children  of  men  should  be.  The  study  of  his 
character  reveals  both  his  religion  and  his  ethics. 

The  Friendliness  of  Jesus 

The  Friend  of  All  Men. — The  words  that  inspired  a 
certain  well-known  poem  might  have  been  written  of  Jesus : 
"He  was  a  friend  to  man,  and  he  lived  in  a  house  by  the- 
side  of  the  road."  There  is  a  type  of  holiness  which 
separates  a  man  from  his  fellows  for  fear  of  defilement, 
and  sends  him  into  wilderness  or  monastery  to  cultivate 
his  inner  life.  The  holiness  of  Jesus  was  human,  loving, 
friendly.  He  was  the  most  accessible  of  men ;  instinctively 
men  felt  that  they  could  come  to  him.  He  was  a  holy  man 
and  a  renowned  teacher,  but  little  children  went  straight 
to  his  arms,  outcast  publicans  and  sinners  thronged  about 
him,  and  even  the  women  of  the  street  did  not  hesitate 
to  draw  near  (Mark  2.  14-17). 

As  Companion  and  Intimate. — He  had  his  more  intimate 
friends,  the  circle  of  the  twelve,  especially  Peter,  James, 
and  John,    Here  were  men  with  whom  he  companied  day 

197 


198  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

and  night  for  weeks  and  months.  There  were  homes 
where  he  was  a  familiar  guest.  It  is  a  convincing  light 
on  the  greatness  of  Jesus  that  these  men  who  knew  him 
best  rated  him  highest.  There  is  truth  at  times  in  the 
proverb  that  "familiarity  breeds  contempt."  Close  con- 
tact with  even  the  greatest  of  men  reveals  some  frailty, 
some  foible,  some  point  of  weakness  or  defect.  But  the 
friendliness  of  Jesus  served  only  to  reveal  more  clearly  his 
greatness,  and  it  was  those  that  knew  him  best  who  called 
him  Lord  and  Master. 

The  Spirit  of  Appreciation. — Closely  allied  to  this  was 
Jesus^  spirit  of  appreciation.  He  who  was  so  quick  to 
see  God  in  the  care  of  the  birds  or  the  color  of  the  lilies, 
was  quick  to  see  God's  Spirit  when  it  showed  itself  in 
men.  He  notices  those  who  do  the  little  helpful  things, 
giving  the  drink  of  water  or  the  bit  of  bread.  He  sees 
what  is  rich  and  fine  behind  a  simple  deed.  The  widow's 
mite  becomes  a  glorious  gift.  How  full  of  feeling  are 
those  words  in  which  he  speaks  of  the  woman  who  un- 
consciously anointed  him  for  the  burial!  We  know  the 
faults  of  the  twelve,  but  how  finely  he  pays  tribute  to  their 
friendship  and  loyalty:  "Ye  are  they  that  have  continued 
with  me  in  my  temptations."  And  this  appreciation  ex- 
tends even  to  those  who  were  despised  and  hated  and  looked 
upon  as  outcast.  The  Eoman  oppressor,  the  traitor  tax- 
gatherer,  the  woman  of  the  street,  the  Samaritan — for  all 
these  the  average  Jew  had  only  contempt  or  hate.  But 
it  is  a  publican  whose  prayer  Jesus  holds  up  as  an  example 
for  men.  It  is  a  Eoman  ofiicer  whose  faith  he  praises.  He 
has  appreciation  for  the  earnestness  and  penitence  of  the 
publicans  and  harlots  who  are  pressing  into  the  kingdom 
of  God.  And  it  is  a  Samaritan  leper  whose  gratitude 
warms  the  heart  of  Jesus. 

Love  and  Compassion' 

The  Sympathy  of  Jesus. — The  compassion  of  Jesus 
stands  out  on  every  page  of  the  Gospels.  Oriental  lands 
have  commonly  sho\\Ti  a  certain  indifference  to  suffering. 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  JESUS  199 

It  is  so  common,  and  it  seems  so  hopeless.  In  Jesus'  day 
there  was  no  organized  care  for  the  poor,  the  sick,  the 
blind,  the  maimed,  or  the  insane.  Their  number  was 
legion,  and  men  were  hardened  to  sights  that  would  not  be 
tolerated  for  a  moment  in  the  streets  of  any  city  of  our 
land.  The  edge  of  Jesus'  pity  was  never  dulled,  though 
these  unfortunates  thronged  his  way  wherever  he  went. 
Nor  was  there  human  need  of  any  kind  that  came  before 
him  in  vain.  He  had  pity  for  the  hungry  and  fed  them. 
He  was  moved  by  the  ills  of  the  body,  sightless  eyes,  stricken 
limbs,  loathsome  leprosy.  Most  of  all  did  the  inner  needs 
of  men  stir  his  soul.  He  saw  them  "distressed  and  scat- 
tered, as  sheep  not  having  a  shepherd";  foolish,  sinful, 
burdened,  unhappy,  no  one  was  showing  them  the  truth  and 
the  way  (Matthew  9.  36).  Nor  could  any  evil  of  men 
limit  that  all-encompassing  pity.  He  laments  over  the 
city  that  is  to  reject  and  slay  him.  Fainting  under  his 
cross,  he  bids  the  women  weep  not  for  him,  but  for  Jeru- 
salem. And  his  last  words  breathe  forgiveness  for  those 
who  slew  him,  and  who  knew  not  what  they  did. 

The  Love  of  Jesus. — The  word  *^ove"  sums  up  this  side 
of  Jesus'  nature.  It  is  more  than  pity,  and  far  more  than 
mere  sentiment.  *TU)ve"  was  a  different  word  before  Jesus 
gave  it  its  Christian  meaning.  He  redeemed  it  from  all 
trace  of  the  earthly  and  sensual.  He  broke  down  all 
barriers  and  made  it  as  broad  as  human  kind.  Christian 
love  is  an  all-embracing  and  unconquerable  good  will  that 
seeks  the  highest  welfare  of  its  object.  It  is  strong  as 
well  as  tender;  it  is  sentiment,  but  it  moves  on  to  action. 
It  can  hate  as  well  as  love,  for  such  love  is  through  and 
through  ethical,  and  it  must  fight  all  that  harms  and 
destroys.  And  yet  its  good  will  has  room  for  every  vilest 
sinner  and  every  bitterest  foe.  And  Jesus  has  shown  us 
what  this  spirit  of  love  is;  love  does  not  describe  Jesus, 
Jesus  gives  the  meaning  to  love. 

The  LoisrELiNESs  of  Jesus 
The  Lonely  Life. — Jesus  was  friendly  to  men  and  craved 


200  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

their  love  and  sympathy  in  return,  and  yet  in  the  deepest 
sense  he  lived  a  lonely  life.  He  has  his  friends  among 
John's  disciples  at  the  time  of  his  baptism,  but  he  fights 
his  great  temptation  battle  in  the  wilderness  alone.  He 
gathers  a  Kttle  company  of  followers  and  shares  with  them 
all  the  common  experiences  of  life.  He  seeks  to  give  them 
all  his  love  and  his  vision  of  God,  and  yet  there  are  depths 
that  they  cannot  reach  and  heights  to  which  they  cannot 
ascend.  As  he  begins  that  last  fateful  journey  to  Jeru- 
salem we  read  that  Jesus  went  on  before  them  alone,  and 
"they  that  followed  were  afraid."  He  takes  them  with 
him  to  the  garden  when  he  prays,  but  in  that  final  fearful 
struggle  he  was  indeed  alone  though  only  "parted  from 
them  about  a  stone's  cast."  When  at  last  he  hung  upon 
the  cross,  they  were  scattered  and  he  and  his  Father  were 
alone.  We  think  of  Jesus'  perfect  union  with  the  Father 
when  we  read  the  words,  "No  one  knoweth  the  Son,  save 
the  Father,"  but  they  set  forth  at  the  same  time  the  lone- 
liness of  liis  life. 

The  Independence  of  Jesus. — With  this  loneliness  went 
his  independence.  He  craved  sympathy  and  rejoiced  in 
the  friendship  of  men,  but  it  was  the  lot  of  his  life  to 
stand  out  in  turn  against  all  to  whom  he  was  naturally 
bound.  He  had  to  oppose,  for  a  time  at  least,  his  mother 
and  brothers.  He  had  to  stand  against  the  revered  leaders 
of  his  people,  learned  scribes  and  "holy"  Pharisees.  He 
iiad  to  oppose  all  the  expectations  of  his  people  which 
they  had  joined  to  the  name  of  Messiah  and  the  thought 
of  the  Kingdom.  He  had  to  oppose  the  civil  and  religious 
authorities  of  his  people,  the  priests  in  charge  of  the 
temple,  and  the  great  Sanhedrin.  Even  from  his  friends 
he  had  to  turn,  rebuking  them  for  their  wrong  aims  and 
saying  to  their  leader  the  sharp  word,  "Get  thee  behind 
me,  Satan."  One  is  reminded  of  the  saying  of  a  modern 
thinker,  "He  who  would  be  a  leader  must  not  be  afraid  to 
walk  alone." 

The  Severity  of  Jesus 

The  Severity  of  Jesns. — It  seems  at  first  wholly  in- 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  JESUS  201 

congruous  to  speak  of  the  severity  of  Jesus.  Severity  is 
often  associated  with  narrowness,  and  we  have  seen  how 
broad  and  tolerant  Jesus'  spirit  was.  It  is  usually  opposed 
to  pity  and  affection,  and  these  marked  the  Son  of  man. 
Perhaps  a  better  word  than  severity  might  be  chosen,  but 
there  is  at  times  a  certain  sternness,  a  certain  inflexibility 
which  is  very  different  from  the  popular  thought  of  the 
gentle,  meek,  and  mild  Jesus.  He  sets  his  demands  before 
men  uncompromisingly.  Sell  what  you  have,  take  up 
your  cross,  hate  your  life,  follow  me :  so  he  speaks  to  men. 
He  has  no  room  for  half-heartedness.  He  has  pity  for 
the  sinful,  but  when  they  turn  it  must  be  with  their 
whole  heart.  This  broadest  of  teachers  has  about  him  a 
certain  narrowness.  He  insists  upon  the  pure  heart,  the 
single  aim.  Strive  to  enter  in,  he  calls  out  to  men.  His 
rebuke  of  evil  is  not  only  stern  but  full  of  deep  passion, 
whether  it  be  the  Pharisees  to  whom  he  speaks  or  his  friend 
Peter. 

His  Severity  Rooted  in  Loyalty  and  Love. — Shallow  men 
take  offense  at  this.  Their  idea  of  liberality  is  indiffer- 
ence. Their  conception  of  love  and  kindness  is  senti- 
mentality. They  lack  moral  depth  and  flber.  With  Jesus 
there  was  first  of  all  the  absolute  devotion  to  truth  and 
right.  An  utter  loyalty  to  the  will  of  God  marked  his 
own  life.  Nothing  could  move  liim  from  this,  neither  toil 
nor  peril  nor  suffering  nor  death.  To  be  pure  in  the  in- 
most thought,  to  be  true  in  the  least  word,  to  be  obedient 
with  the  whole  heart,  that  was  his  life,  and  that  he  de- 
manded of  others.  Men  have  sometimes  talked  as  though 
righteousness  like  this  might  come  into  conflict  with  love, 
as  though  it  might  demand  harshness  where  love  would 
be  lenient.  But  that  is  a  wrong  conception  of  righteous- 
ness as  it  is  of  love.  The  love  of  Jesus  would  have  been 
a  poor  and  impotent  thing  if  this  righteousness  had  not 
been  at  its  heart.  It  is  just  because  Jesus  saw  so  un- 
erringly and  demanded  so  uncompromisingly,  because  he  so 
hated  iniquity  and  loved  righteousness,  that  his  love  has 
been  the  saving  power  that  it  is.  Because  he  loved  men 
he  could  not  ask  less. 


202  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

Loyalty  and  Devotion 

The  Value  of  Loyalty. — What  Jesus  demanded  of  others, 
that  he  was  the  first  to  yield  himself,  an  absolute  and  un- 
wavering loyalty  to  his  work,  a  single  devotion  that  counted 
no  cost  and  shrank  at  no  sacrifice.  Men  have  not  rated 
highly  enough  the  virtue  of  loyalty.  It  lifts  men  out  of 
petty  lives  and  makes  them  great  by  joining  them  to 
some  high  cause.  Weak  men  become  strong  through  it, 
and  timid  men  are  made  into  heroes.  If  this  is  valued 
in  times  of  war,  how  much  more  it  means  in  time  of  peace 
when  no  great  wave  of  public  feeling  carries  men  on  and 
only  simple  steadfastness  in  duty  sustains  them.  Again 
and  again  Jesus  praises  such  simple  loj^alty:  "he  that  is 
faithful,^^  "he  that  endureth,"  "ye  have  continued  with 
me.^^  It  is  such  men  who  win  the  "Well  done^'  at  the 
last. 

Jesus'  Devotion  to  His  Work. — Such  was  the  spirit  of 
Jesus'  life:  a  simple  but  absolute  devotion  to  his  work. 
It  calls  him  from  Nazareth.  It  occupies  him  through  the 
days  of  meditation  and  struggle  in  the  wilderness.  It  fills 
his  thought  in  long  nights  of  prayer :  What  is  my  Father's 
will,  and  how  am  I  to  do  his  work?  It  carries  the  secret 
of  his  unshaken  confidence  even  with  approaching  death; 
he  throws  himself  upon  God  because  he  is  doing  God's 
work.  "My  meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me, 
and  to  accomplish  his  work."  And  how  that  cry  upon  the 
cross  reveals  aU  the  toil  and  terrible  conflict  of  the  past 
from  which  his  spirit  now  turns  to  his  Father!  "It  is 
finished."  He  was  sent  into  the  world  for  a  great  work; 
now  it  is  accomplished.  The  unselfishness  of  that  devotion 
friend  and  enemy  alike  recognized.  He  received  no  higher 
tribute  than  that  which  came  from  his  enemies  in  heart- 
less taunt  as  he  hung  upon  the  cross:  "He  saved  others; 
himself  he  cannot  save."  Only,  we  write  it  a  little  differ- 
ently :  That  he  might  save  others,  he  would  not  save  him- 
self. 

His  Enthusiasm  and  Passion. — Such  devotion  was  no 
cold  obedience  to  duty.    Eighteousness  was  the  passion  of 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  JESUS  203 

his  life,  and  his  soul  was  full  of  a  holy  and  sustaining 
enthusiasm  for  his  work.  The  fourth  Gospel  gives  the 
picture  of  Jesus  at  the  well,  forgetful  of  weariness  and 
hunger,  his  soul  stirred  with  the  vision  of  whitened  fields, 
saying  to  his  returning  disciples :  "I  have  meat  to  eat  that 
ye  know  not''  (John  4.  31-35).  With  what  passion  of 
indignation  does  he  smite  hypocrisy  and  wrong  and  op- 
pression !  With  what  joy  does  he  look  upon  the  penitence 
of  publican  and  harlot,  and  the  eager  earnestness  of  those 
whom  he  sees  taking  the  Kingdom  by  storm !  It  was  his 
holy  indignation  that  swept  the  temple,  not  the  feeble 
scourge  that  he  bore  in  his  hands.  And  with  what  a  deep 
feeling  of  love  and  devotion  and  confidence  has  he  filled 
his  disciples  ever  since!  Jesus  changed  the  morality  of 
bald  duty  into  a  mighty  passion;  he  taught  men  how  to 
hate  the  evil  and  love  the  good,  and  thus  gave  men  not  only 
ideals  but  power.  He  changed  religion  into  a  like  passion, 
which  joined  a  glowing  devotion  to  God  with  a  joyous 
confidence  in  the  future.  But  that  conquering  spirit  which 
has  marked  his  discijDles  was  first  seen  in  its  purity  and 
power  in  himself. 

Directions  foe  Study 

Scripture  references:  Mark  2.  14-17;  14.  6-9;  Matthew  9.  36; 
23.  13-36;  Mark  8.  33;  John  4.  32-34.  Only  a  few  Scripture 
references  are  given.  The  whole  Gospels  must  be  the  material 
for  this  lesson. 

Under  the  friendliness  of  Jesus,  think  of  his  humanness, 
his  kindliness,  his  warm-heartedness.  Recall  all  the  instances 
you  can  in  which  Jesus  showed  himself  thus  friendly. 

The  love  and  compassion  of  Jesus  take  us  a  little  farther. 
Call  to  mind  the  different  classes  of  folks  to  whom  Jesus 
showed  this  pity.    Did  he  show  it  toward  his  enemies? 

Was  it  hard  for  one  of  Jesus'  friendly  and  sympathetic  nature 
to  be  lonely?    State  the  causes  of  this  loneliness. 

Where  did  Jesus  most  clearly  show  his  loyalty  to  his  work 
and  to  God? 

How  far  is  loyalty  the  test  of  character? 


CHAPTER  XXV 

THE  CHAEACTER  OF  JESUS  AS  SEEN  IN  HIS 

PERSONAL  LIFE  AND  HIS  RELATION 

TO    GOD 

We  have  seen  the  character  of  Jesus  in  his  relation  with 
men,  but  the  springs  of  his  life  lay  beneath  this.  These 
we  consider  when  we  study  the  inner  spirit  of  his  life  and 
his  relation  with  God.  Men  saw  his  love  and  righteous- 
ness in  word  and  deed,  but  they  felt  even  more  the  power 
of  the  life  that  lay  behind  this.  "In  him  was  lite/'  wrote 
one  of  his  disciples.    What  was  that  life  ? 

The  Life  of  Jesus  with  God 

The  inner  life  of  Jesus  was  a  life  with  God.  One  man's 
passion  is  beauty.  Another's  dream  is  of  power.  A  third 
sets  all  his  strength  to  the  gaining  of  wealth,  and  measures 
all  things  in  relation  to  this  end.  The  passion  of  Jesus  was. 
God.  All  the  thought  of  his  life  was  filled  with  God.  The 
fallen  sparrow,  the  tinted  lily,  the  glowing  sunset,  the 
swift  tempest,  the  life  of  men  about  him  all  spoke  to  him 
of  God. 

A  life  of  Humility. — The  life  of  Jesus  with  his  Father 
was  first  of  all  a  life  of  humility.  We  have  seen  the  in- 
dependence of  Jesus,  how  he  asserted  his  authority  against 
friend  and  foe,  against  priest  and  scribe,  and  even  over 
against  the  sacred  law.  The  source  of  that  independence 
was  in  his  utter  dependence  upon  God.  He  had  no  desire 
for  himself.  He  saw  his  life  only  in  relation  to  God's 
will,  and  lived  in  utter  dependence  upon  God's  power. 
That  dependence  is  no  irksome  restraint,  but  a  matter  of 
deepest  rejoicing.  His  Father  is  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth 
and  of  his  own  life,  and  for  this  he  thanks  God  (IMatthew 
11.  25).    All  the  praying  of  Jesus  shows  this  spirit;  it  is 

204 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  JESUS  205 

the  atmosphere  that  encompasses  the  Lord^s  prayer,  and 
it  fills  his  soul  in  the  conflict  in  the  Garden. 

A  Life  of  Trust. — Closely  akin  to  this  humility  is  his 
confidence  in  God.  The  spirit  of  utter  trust  breathes 
through  all  his  life.  His  confidence  did  not  come  from 
ignorance  or  blindness.  He  knew  from  the  first  the  evils 
that  surrounded  him,  and  what  awaited  him  in  those  last 
days,  but  he  never  hesitated  (Luke  9.  51).  He  knew  the 
peril  from  Herod,  "that  fox,"  but  he  knew  also  that  "to- 
day and  to-morrow  and  the  third  day'^  were  in  God's  hand. 
Upon  his  Father's  goodness  he  could  fling  his  life,  for 
this  Father  was  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth.  All  who  saw 
him  noted  that  spirit  of  confidence.  Even  liis  enemies  said, 
"He  trusted  in  God,"  albeit  they  mocked  in  saying  it.  The 
early  church,  with  its  joyous  faith,  is  witness  to  his  power 
to  communicate  this  spirit  to  others.  His  praying  shows 
us  that  this  confidence  was  not  held  without  fierce  strug- 
gle. He  wrought  his  work  amid  the  greatest  perils.  He 
saw  his  nation  turn  from  him,  his  disciples  desert  him, 
one  of  his  companions  betray  him,  and  the  most  cruel  and 
shameful  of  deaths  coming  upon  him.  But  in  the  midst  of 
all  danger  and  the  apparent  collapse  of  his  work  Ms  quiet 
confidence  and  peace  never  left  him.  He  breathed  his 
last  with  words  of  trust  upon  his  lips:  "Father,  into  thy 
hands  I  commend  my  spirit." 

A  Life  of  Obedience. — In  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  obedi- 
ence and  trust  go  hand  in  hand.  So  it  is  in  his  life.  There 
is  more  than  one  kind  of  obedience.  There  is  the  obedi- 
ence of  the  servant  who  thinks  only  of  his  wage.  There 
is  the  obedience  that  bows  in  submission  because  it  cannot 
help.  But  the  obedience  of  trust  and  devotion  is  of  a 
different  kind.  Such  was  the  obedience  of  Jesus.  When 
he  thought  of  the  will  of  God  he  saw  it  as  the  greatest 
good  that  could  come  to  man;  to  do  that  will  was  man's 
highest  calling.  Here  too  there  was  struggle,  as  he  faced 
shame  and  pain  and  seeming  defeat;  and  yet  he  could  say 
of  all  his  life,  "My  meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  him  that  sent 
me."  The  will  of  God  was  not  only  the  supreme  purpose 
of  his  life,  but  the  joy  and  strength  that  sustained  him. 


206  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

The  Spieit  op  Jesus 

His  Purity. — We  have  considered  the  character  of  Jesus 
in  his  relation  to  his  fellows  and  to  God.  We  need  now  to 
look  at  that  character  as  a  whole.  "And  first  of  all  we  note 
its  purity.  The  taint  of  sin  is  upon  all  other  lives.  We 
turn  to  them,  the  greatest  and  the  best,  who 

*.   .   .  climbed  the  steep  ascent  to  heaven 
Through  peril,  toil,  and  pain.' 

They  are  the  victors  who  overcame,  whose  names  we  cheer. 
But  the  marks  of  the  conflict  are  upon  them  all ;  the  stain 
of  dust  is  on  their  garments,  and  they  have  all  known  de- 
feat. His  life  too  had  its  struggles,  but  he  alone  bears 
no  scars  and  shows  no  stains.  Our  saints  of  earth  are  the 
last  to  speak  of  freedom  from  sin;  the  higher  men  rise 
spiritually  the  more  sensitive  the  conscience,  the  deeper 
the  feeling  of  guilt.  No  men  have  ever  uttered  a  deeper 
note  of  contrition  than  Paul  or  Augustine  or  Luther.  No 
man  had  so  clear  a  vision  of  sin  as  Jesus.  No  man  ever 
made  it  so  clear  as  the  dark  and  damnable  thing  that  it  is. 
And  yet  he  never  once  betrays  even  a  passing  sense  of 
penitence  or  suggests  a  single  time  a  consciousness  of  the 
need  of  forgiveness.^^ 

His  Positive  and  Passionate  Righteousness. — The  word 
"purit}",^'  like  the  word  "sinlessness,^^  has  a  suggestion  of 
the  negative  about  it.  That  is  far  from  its  meaning,  how- 
ever, in  the  case  of  Jesus.  The  thought  of  the  church  and 
the  pictures  of  the  artists  have  sometimes  been  at  fault 
here.  They  have  laid  the  whole  stress  on  the  meekness  and 
mildness  and  patience  of  Jesus;  he  stands  before  us  as  a 
patient  sufferer  removed  from  all  the  interests  as  from 
all  the  evil  of  life.  But  the  impression  that  we  get  from 
a  fair  study  of  the  Gospels  is  very  different.  It  is  the 
positiveness  of  his  character  that  we  feel.  His  morality 
is  no  negative,  colorless  thing.  His  life,  like  his  teaching, 
has  a  note  of  power  and  authority.  His  righteousness  is 
not  an  absence  of  sin,  but  a  flaming  passion  for  the  good. 


THE  CHAEACTER  OF  JESUS  207 

The  traditional  saint  is  one  who  turned  from  evil;  Jesus 
faced  it  and  fought  it.  Sometimes  men  have  even  stumbled 
at  the  burning  words  which  Jesus  flung  at  the  Pharisees, 
or  at  the  thought  of  a  scourge  of  cords  in  the  hands  of 
the  man  of  love.  All  this  is  but  the  mark  of  the  posi- 
tiveness  and  power  of  his  righteousness.  Our  reaction 
against  evil  as  against  good  is  wont  to  be  weak  and  in- 
termittent; his  was  alwaj^s  quick  and  strong.  Wherever 
he  saw  good  in  men,  in  their  earnestness  or  good  will  or 
penitence,  there  he  responded  at  once  with  sympathy  and 
appreciation  and  help.  Where  he  saw  evil,  the  reaction 
was  just  as  sure.  And  he  flamed  out  against  evil  just 
because  his  love  was  so  strong.  There  was  nothing  passive 
or  negative  in  him.  And  because  he  set  forth  righteous- 
ness so  positively,  men  had  to  take  sides  for  or  against  him, 
as  they  have  done  ever  since. 

A  Wholesome  Holiness. — With  tliis  positiveness  of  Jesus' 
spirit  there  goes  his  wholesomeness.  One  might  call  it 
the  wholeness,  or  true  holiness,  of  his  life.  There  is  a 
certain  piety  which  fears  the  world  and  thrives  only  by 
running  from  it.  To  such  saints  the  joys  of  common  life 
are  a  matter  of  suspicion.  A  robust  health  does  not  point 
to  the  Kingdom,  and  the  way  to  God  seems  to  lead  away 
from  the  common  and  the  human.  This  spirit  of  world- 
fear  and  world-flight  may  be  found  in  the  Protestant 
Church  as  well  as  elsewhere.  The  spirit  of  Jesus  points 
the  other  way.  There  is  a  sanity  and  poise  about  liim. 
There  is  a  simple  humanness  in  his  ways.  There  is  even 
a  joyousness  in  his  spirit.  All  life  interested  him,  child- 
hood at  play,  motherhood  and  home,  men  at  their  business, 
nature  in  its  beaut}^  Especially  was  he  a  good  com- 
panion— sociable,  we  sometimes  say.  There  were  homes 
that  looked  for  liis  coming,  close  friends  who  shared  his 
days  and  nights,  and  festal  occasions  where  he  was  the 
chief  guest.  Because  he  was  pure,  he  could  welcome  all 
good  things  without  peril,  and  yet  he  never  lost  the  high- 
est among  these  lesser  goods. 

The  Balance  and  Completeness  of  His  Character. — And 
to  this  we  must  add  the  completeness  of  the  character  of 


208  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

Jesus.  It  is  a  simple  thing  to  say,  it  is  a  wonderful  thing 
to  realize,  that  Jesus  represents  not  one  type  of  achieve- 
ment, however  great,  but  the  highest  in  all  human  life 
and  relations.  Among  men,  even  the  greatest,  we  find 
one  quality  or  another  preeminent.  Francis  of  Assisi  is 
the  type  of  boundless  love  and  gracious  service.  Brave 
Martin  Luther  was  born  for  days  which  called  for  hard 
blows  and  a  doughty  spirit.  The  spirit  of  both  is  found 
in  Jesus,  and  all  else  besides.  The  most  opposite  virtues 
are  perfectly  expressed  in  him.  His  is  the  spirit  of  per- 
fect humility  wholly  dependent  upon  God;  his  is  the 
courage  and  independence  that  stands  unshaken  before 
the  world.  There  is  a  sympathy  and  tenderness  about  him 
like  that  of  a  woman;  by  its  side  there  is  a  virility,  a 
masterfulness,  that  no  man  has  surpassed.  To-day  he 
gathers  into  his  arms  the  little  children,  on  the  morrow 
his  flaming  passion  sweeps  the  temple  of  its  defilers.  What 
love  and  gentleness  are  in  him,  and  yet  how  stern,  how 
unyielding  he  can  be  with  others  and  with  himself!  He 
is  a  comrade  of  joy  in  the  fellowship  with  men,  but  he 
knows  also  the  night  of  prayer  and  the  perfect  fellowship 
with  God.  He  was  the  most  friendly  of  men,  the  supreme 
Friend,  and  yet  no  man  was  ever  more  lonely  than  he. 

The  Example  and  Inspiration  of  All. — "What  wonder 
that  he  speaks  to  every  land  and  age,  to  every  type  of  this 
race  of  ours.  All  have  found  their  inspiration  and  ideal 
in  him.  In  him  is  the  spirit  of  all  kind  and  tender  mothers, 
of  all  loyal  friends,  and  lovers  of  men.  He  has  been  the 
inspiration  of  purity  and  truth,  of  all  high  and  noble 
manhood  that  has  quickened  our  lesser  lives.  His  is  the 
spirit  of  faith  that  has  made  men  quiet  and  strong  when 
all  the  world  opposed  them;  the  spirit  of  courage  and 
chivalry,  of  all  defense  of  weakness  and  all  high  hatred 
of  wrong  and  oppression;  the  spirit  of  love  and  devotion 
that  calls  for  men  to-day  to  fight  against  ancient  wrong 
and  new  abuse,  against  oppression  and  cruel  lust  and 
hardened  greed,  and  all  things  that  make  earth  foul  and 
curse  the  children  of  men;  the  spirit  of  glad  and  con- 
fident service  that  loves  men  and  fights  evil,  and  knows 


THE  CHAEACTEE  OF  JESUS  20a 

that  the  kingdom  of  sin  must  perish  and  the  rule  of  God 
must  come/^ 

The  Imitableness  of  Jesus. — Long  ago  the  church  de- 
clared its  belief  in  the  full  and  complete  humanity  of  Jesus, 
as  in  his  full  divinity.  But  that  is  not  enough.  Jesus 
is  not  only  a  man,  he  is  the  man.  In  him  has  been  shown 
once  for  all  what  man  should  be,  what  he  might  be.  And 
so  we  come  to  the  wonderful  fact  of  the  imitableness  of 
Jesus.  It  might  be  thought  that  this  perfect  life  would 
by  that  fact  be  wholly  removed  from  us  and  our  endeavor. 
The  saints  whom  the  church  has  set  up  and  the  heroes 
whom  men  sometimes  glorify  are  often  so  removed  from 
our  imitation.  We  cannot  all  flee  the  world,  or  become 
martyrs,  or  work  other  marvelous  deeds.  But  the  reason 
why  we  cannot  imitate  these  men  is  just  because  they 
are  one-sided;  and  the  reason  we  can  follow  Jesus  is  just 
because  he  is  so  complete.  We  can  see,  every  one  of  us, 
our  highest  life  in  Mm. 

"O  Christ!  the  tender,  loving  one, 

In  whom  all  deathless  graces  blend— 
The  goal  to  which  the  cycles  run 

In  spiral  paths  to  one  vast  end; 
As  torrents  in  their  courses  turn 

To  mingle  with  the  mother-breast, 
All  tongues  and  tribes  and  nations  yearn 

For  what  is  found  in  thee  expressed." 

DiBECTioisrs  FOE  Study 

Scripture  references:  Matthew  11.  25-27;  26.  39;  Mark  15. 
2-5;  11.  15-17;  14.  32-35.  Here  again  we  must  not  limit  our- 
selves to  a  few  passages.  Read  the  lesson  discussion  and  give 
illustrations  from  the  Gospels  of  each  of  the  aspects  of  Jesus' 
character  as  discussed  above. 

What  other  qualities,  if  any,  would  you  suggest  as  charac- 
terizing Jesus'  relation  to  his  Father?  Does  the  thought  of 
his  love  for  God  occur  to  you?  Is  that  included  in  what  is  said 
about  God  as  being  the  passion  of  Jesus'  life? 

How  do  men  usually  show  their  sense  of  sin?  What  would 
you  think  if  the  finest  and  best  man  that  you  know  should 
intimate  to  you  that  he  was  not  only  without  sin,  but  that  he 
never  had  sinned?  Can  you  think  of  Jesus  as  ever  having 
sinned?    Why  not? 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

THE  HEART  OF  JESUS'  MESSAGE— A  SUMMARY 

It  would  be  of  little  value  to  review  this  course  per- 
functorily chapter  by  chapter.  But  it  will  be  well  worth 
our  while  to  pause  long  enough  to  ask  what  the  heart 
of  Jesus'  message  is.  The  great  philosopher  Kant  once 
said  that  all  the  searchings  of  man  might  be  summed 
up  in  three  questions:  Wliat  can  I  know?  What  must  I 
do  ?  What  may  I  hope  for  ?  We  will  let  these  three  ques- 
tions give  us  the  outline  for  a  summary  of  Jesus'  teaching. 

The  Christian"  Eaith  Accordixg  to  Jesus 

What  We  Need  Most  to  Know. — There  are  lesser  ques- 
tions and  larger  questions  of  knowledge.  Man  is  curious 
about  the  earth  and  the  heavens,  about  the  history  of  the 
past,  and  about  himself;  but  the  greatest  question  is  the 
question  about  God.  Ever}^  study  leads  to  this  at  last. 
We  study  geology  and  biology  and  botany  and  the  rest, 
but  when  we  have  finished  we  are  still  face  to  face  with 
the  real  questions:  Whence  did  tliis  world  come?  What 
does  it  mean?  "Wliere  is  it  going?  We  ask  the  same 
questions  about  our  individual  lives  and  about  the  human 
race  and  about  the  worlds  above  us.  And  there  is  no 
answer  to  any  of  these  ultimate  questions  until  we  find 
God. 

God  as  the  Answer  to  All  Questions. — We  have  found 
that  for  Jesus  God  was  not  only  the  supreme  interest  of 
his  life,  but  it  was  the  thought  of  God  that  decided  every- 
thing in  his  teaching.  When  we  ask  him  what  our  life  is 
to  be,  he  does  not  give  us  a  set  of  rules,  but  simply  says, 

210 


THE  HEAET  OF  JESUS'  MESSAGE         211 

"You  must  be  sons  like  your  Father/'  When  we  ask  about 
the  life  of  men  together,  he  says,  "You  must  live  together 
as  children  of  this  Father."  When  we  ask  about  prayer, 
he  points  us  again  to  God;  God  hears  and  God  cares,  and 
that  is  why  we  should  pray.  Just  as  children  go  to  their 
father.  When  we  ask  about  the  future,  it  is  the  same ;  God 
has  all  power,  and  so  he  will  some  time  rule ;  he  is  all  love, 
and  so  we  need  not  fear. 

The  God  of  Power  and  Righteousness. — What  did  he 
teach  about  this  Father?  Many  things  that  prophet  and 
psalmist  had  taught  before.  The  Old  Testament  shows 
us  the  God  of  power  and  the  God  of  righteousness,  and 
Jesus  believed  in  that  God.  He  had  no  thought  of  bring- 
ing a  new  God.  His  God  was  the  God  who  had  made 
heaven  and  earth  according  to  the  old  creation  story,  the 
God  of  majesty  and  power  shown  to  us  in  that  sublime 
chapter  of  Isaiah  40.  He  believed  with  the  prophets  in 
the  God  of  righteousness,  the  God  who  hated  iniquity  and 
oppression,  who  loved  clean  hands  and  humble  hearts  more 
than  sacrifice  or  other  offering. 

The  Father. — But  Jesus'  supreme  word  for  God  was  not 
Creator,  nor  yet  Holy  One;  it  was  Father.  The  holiness 
and  the  power  are  always  there,  but  his  great  message  is 
that  of  the  unutterable  good  will  of  God  toward  men.  He 
it  was  who  taught  men,  when  they  prayed,  to  say  "Our 
Father."  He  bade  each  man  to  say  this,  and  to  know  that 
God  cared  for  him  by  himself.  He  lifted  religion  thus 
above  all  divisions  of  race  and  class,  for  this  Father  cared 
for  every  child.  He  made  religion  a  personal  relation,  a 
loving  fellowship  between  each  man  and  his  Father.  And 
so  he  made  manhood  the  one  sacred  thing  on  eartli,  since 
each  man  was  the  object  of  this  God's  loving  care.  Holi- 
ness was  still  present  in  this  God,  but  it  was  not  a  holiness 
that  separated  God  from  men  or  made  of  him  simply  the 
judge;  rather  it  was  the  holiness  that  drew  nigh  to  men 
to  lift  them  out  of  their  sin,  that  by  its  love  was  overcom- 
ing sin  in  the  world.  The  power  was  still  present  in  this 
God  of  Jesus,  but  it  was  a  power  that  was  ruled  by  love 
and  that  men  could  trust  with  joy. 


212  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

The  Christian  Life  According  to  Jesus 

The  True  Life  Is  Sonship. — If  the  Christian  faith  means 
Fatherhood,  then  the  Christian  life  can  be  put  in  the  one 
word  sonship.  The  heart  of  this  teaching  we  found  in  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount,  and  specially  in  Matthew  6.  38- 
48.  How  simple  the  answer  that  he  gives.  He  brushes 
aside  endless  rules  and  laws  and  ceremonies,  the  burdens 
that  priests  and  scribes  had  placed  upon  men.  He  has 
only  one  rule:  that  men  are  to  be  like  their  Father,  that 
his  spirit  of  holy  good  will  is  to  rule  their  lives.  And 
yet  how  searching  his  demand  is !  Offerings  and  cere- 
monies and  words  and  outward  deeds  will  not  do.  He  pushes 
relentlessly  to  the  heart  of  the  matter.  Is  the  thought 
pure?  he  demands.  You  have  not  committed  murder,  but 
have  you  been  angTy?  You  have  not  committed  adultery, 
but  has  there  been  lust  in  your  glance?  If  you  want  to 
be  a  son,  then  the  heart  of  your  life,  your  inner  spirit, 
must  belong  to  God.  And  that  is  not  all.  That  inner 
spirit  must  rule  all  the  life.  You  cannot  give  one  holy 
day  and  feel  that  you  have  satisfied  God;  you  cannot  give 
a  tithe  and  think  that  God  has  no  more  claim.  N'othing 
less  than  all  your  life  belongs  to  him.  His  own  spirit  of 
good  will  must  rule  it  all. 

Two  Sides  of  Sonship. — This  life  of  sonship  we  studied 
in  two  relations.  It  is  first  of  all  the  life  of  the  son  with 
his  Father,  and  then  the  life  of  sons  together  as  brothers. 
These  two  cannot  be  separated.  The  fellowship  with  the 
Father  gives  depth  and  power  and  inspiration  to  life.  The 
fellowship  with  men  gives  the  opportunity  for  expression; 
without  it  there  is  no  real  love  of  God,  no  real  service,  and 
no  true  growth  of  the  soul.  Jesus  not  only  joined  these 
together  in  his  teaching  of  the  one  law  of  love  for  God 
and  man,  but  illustrated  them  in  his  life  which  joined  the 
nights  of  prayer  with  the  days  of  ministr}\ 

The  Spirit  of  Humility  and  Desire. — What  does  Jesus 
teach  about  the  life  of  the  son  with  his  Father  ?  Strangely 
enough,  he  does  not  put  righteousness  first,  as  men  had 
done  before  him.     He  knows  that  all  that  we  have  must 


THE  HEAET  OF  JESUS'  MESSAGE         313 

come  from  God;  that  it  is  what  the  Father  gives  us  and 
does  for  us  that  makes  us  sons;  and  so  the  first  thing 
that  he  asks  is  humility  and  desire.  To  desire  God  and  to 
open  your  heart  to  him,  that  is  the  first  need.  This  begins 
in  repentance,  where  a  man  with  clear  purpose  and  true 
sorrow  turns  from  his  sin  and  faces  toward  God.  It 
goes  through  his  whole  life  as  a  spirit  of  humility,  of 
utter  dependence,  of  constant  high  desire.  Jesus  praises 
it  in  the  Beatitudes,  he  sets  it  forth  in  the  child,  he 
illustrates  it  in  the  prayer  of  the  penitent  publican. 

Obedience  and  Trust. — Next  Jesus  puts  obedience.  That 
is  the  test  of  desire  as  it  is  of  faith.  In  the  spirit  of  the 
old  prophets  he  teaches  men  that  the  final  test  is  the 
obedient  will:  "Not  every  one  that  saith  unto  me.  Lord, 
Lord,  shall  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven ;  but  he  that 
doeth  the  will  of  my  Father.''  "Every  one  therefore  that 
heareth  these  words  of  mine,  and  doeth  them,  shall  be 
likened  unto  a  wise  man,  who  built  his  house  upon  a  rock.'^ 
And  in  the  judgment  scene  he  does  not  speak  of  what  men 
said,  or  believed,  or  felt.  What  he  says  is,  "Inasmuch  as 
ye  did." 

With  obedience  he  placed  trust.  If  this  God  is  utterly 
good  and  at  the  same  time  wholly  powerful,  then  it  is  our 
part  to  give  ourselves  absolutely  and  to  trust  him  perfectly. 
The  two  sins  wliich  Jesus  points  out  in  Matthew  6  are 
the  divided  trust  and  the  divided  obedience.  Men  feared 
God,  but  they  feared  the  world  also  and  were  anxious 
about  their  lives.  They  loved  God,  but  they  loved  the 
world  also  and  were  eager  for  earthly  treasures.  "Ye  can- 
not serve  God  and  mammon,"  Jesus  says.  "Seek  first 
the  kingdom  of  God,"  and  "Be  not  anxious";  these  are 
his  two  rules  for  the  life  of  peace  and  strength. 

The  Life  of  Prayer. — The  heart  of  this  life  with  God  is 
prayer.  Here  it  all  comes  to  expression.  Here  penitence 
and  desire,  obedience  and  trust  and  love,  all  come  to  utter- 
ance. How  much  prayer  means  Jesus  set  forth  by  his  own 
example.  Luke  in  particular  shows  how  the  great  crises 
in  his  life  were  all  preceded  by  nights  spent  in  prayer.  In 
his  teaching  Jesus  is  especially  concerned  with  encoui-aging 


214  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

men  to  pray.  This  is  the  aim  of  most  of  his  parables  and 
sayings  about  prayer.  He  tried  to  make  men  see  the  good- 
ness of  this  Eather,  his  interest  in  all  his  children,  even 
the  least,  and  his  willingness,  even  eagerness,  to  give  to 
his  children.  He  wanted  to  lead  them  into  that  life  of 
peace  and  joy  and  strength  which  was  liis. 

The  Life  with  Men. — And  then  comes  the  life  of  the 
son  with  his  brothers.  Here  again  Jesus  has  no  long  list 
of  rules,  but  he  holds  up  an  ideal  that  lights  up  all  these 
questions  and  that  has  been  a  transforming  power  in  the 
world.  The  simple  ideal  is  this :  every  man  is  to  be  God's 
son  and  is  to  show  the  spirit  of  the  Father  in  his  life  with 
his  brothers.  Simple  as  it  is,  this  again  is  complete  and 
is  searching.    Notice  the  elements  involved. 

The  first  is  the  fact  of  brotherhood.  How  that  cuts 
across  human  passions  and  prejudices.  There  are  no 
favored  races  with  God.  There  are  differences  in  color 
and  capacity  and  character,  but  more  important  than  all: 
these  differences  is  what  we  have  in  common:  we  are  all 
children  of  one  God.    He  knows  no  divisions. 

The  second  element  is  the  law  of  brotherhood.  This 
law  is  determined  for  us  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Father.  It 
is  a  law  of  reverence,  because  all  men  are  his  children  and 
our  brothers.  It  is  a  law  of  good  will,  that  does  not  de- 
pend upon  what  men  deserve  from  us.  It  is  a  law  of  serv- 
ice, in  which  each  man  looks  upon  life  as  the  chance  to 
give  to  others  rather  than  an  effort  to  get  for  himself. 
And  this  law  of  good  vrill  belongs  in  business  and  state, 
and  not  only  in  our  private  relations.  And  it  should  rule 
the  life  between  nation  and  nation  as  weU  as  between  man 
and  man. 

The  Christian  and  the  World. — To  these  two  chief  rela- 
tions one  other  might  be  added — a  man's  relation  to  the 
world  of  things.  Here  too  the  thought  of  the  Father 
must  guide  us.  The  son  will  look  upon  the  world  as  the 
Fathers  house  and  wiU  therefore  not  be  afraid.  Eather 
he  will  rejoice  in  all  the  good  and  beautiful  things  that 
his  Father  has  made.  At  the  same  time  he  will  realize 
that  the  house  is  just  the  shell  that  contains  the  life.    He 


THE  HEAET  OF  JESUS'  MESSAGE         215 

fails  in  life  who  lives  for  these  things  and  forgets  the  God 
who  made  them ;  such  a  man  is  like  the  rich  farmer  whom 
Jesus  called  a  fool.  But  there  is  also  a  positive  side  to 
the  world.  Its  work,  its  trials,  its  gifts  are  all  means  for 
making  men,  for  growing  character.  And  work  and  wealth 
are  man's  chance  to  serve  God  and  his  fellows. 

The  Cheistia2T  Hope  AccoRDrN"G  to  Jesus 

What  May  a  Man  Expect  from  God? — ^The  third  great 
question  that  a  man  asks  is,  "What  may  I  hope  for?" 
That  means  first  of  all  the  question  of  God's  help  to  men 
here  and  now.  Jesus  taught  the  goodness  of  God  whose 
joy  it  is  to  give  to  his  children.  He  taught  that  the  chief 
of  God's  great  gifts  is  forgiveness.  This  forgiveness  with 
Jesus  is  not  an  incident  at  the  beginning  of  the  Christian 
life,  but  the  heart  of  God's  love  throughout  our  life.  It 
means  that  our  Father,  despite  our  sin  and  weakness,  takes 
us  into  his  fellowship  as  his  children.  In  that  fellowship 
everything  else  is  given,  joy  and  peace  and  strength  and 
love.  Forgiveness  stands  thus  for  the  whole  life  of  God 
in  man:  it  is  God's  gift  of  himself.  He  taught  men  the 
privilege  of  prayer.  With  such  a  God  and  such  gifts 
awaiting  us,  prayer  becomes  a  high  privilege  and  a  high 
dut}\ 

The  Hope  of  Future  Life. — Jesus  offered  men  a  hope 
that  looked  beyond  this  life.  He  did  not  say  much  about 
heaven,  but  he  held  that  men  would  gather  as  they  had 
reaped  (Matthew  25.  31-46).  He  believed  in  a  judgment 
upon  men.  For  himself  death  was  only  an  incident  on  the 
way  to  a  larger  life.  He  held  up  clearly  and  definitely 
this  hope  for  others  (Luke  16.  22).  That  Life  was  to  be 
different  from  this  life,  but  he  did  not  seek  to  describe 
or  try  to  answer  our  questions  about  it.  He  could  leave 
all  that  with  his  Father,  because  he  believed  so  utterly  in 
the  power  of  God  (Matthew  22.  29-32). 

The  Hope  of  the  Kingdom. — But  the  great  hope  that 
Jesus  held  forth  was  that  of  the  coming  rule  of  God,  the 
"kingdom  of  God,"  as  it  is  translated  in  our  Bibles.    It 


^16  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 

was  this  tho^'ight  that  filled  his  heart  with  joy,  this  was 
the  gospel,  the  "good  news'^  that  he  preached  to  men.  Men 
have  disputed  as  to  when  Jesus  thought  that  this  new 
world  of  God^s  rule  was  coming  and  as  to  just  how  it  was 
coming.  These  are  the  lesser  matters.  More  important  is 
it  to  see  what  Jesus  meant  by  this  and  to  gain  his  convic- 
tion and  his  vision.  God^s  Kingdom  meant  for  him  God's 
rule  in  the  world,  and  God's  rule  meant  first  of  all  his  life 
in  men.  For  that  reason  he  saw  the  beginnings  of  the 
Kingdom  before  his  eyes.  Where  men  were  healed  and 
sins  were  forgiven,  where  he  saw  penitence  and  faith  and 
love  in  men's  hearts,  there  he  saw  the  Kingdom  already 
present.  But  these  were  only  the  beginnings.  Some  time 
all  the  world  was  to  be  under  God's  rule,  and  some  time 
sin  and  oppression  and  misrule  of  every  kind  should  yield 
to  the  one  rule  of  God.  In  that  hope  he  died ;  in  that  hope 
his  followers  live  this  day. 

DiEEcnoNs  FOR  Study 

Read  through  the  entire  chapter. 

Jot  down  on  paper  the  three  main  aspects  of  Jesus'  teaching 
as  indicated  in  this  chapter.  Now  go  through  the  book  and 
write  down  the  title  of  each  chapter  under  the  head  where 
it  belongs.  A  few  chapters  will  not  fit  into  this  division.  Note 
that  the  book  does  not,  however,  follow  the  order  of  these  three 
divisions. 

As  you  thus  go  through  the  book,  write  down  some  of  the 
most  helpful  or  suggestive  truths  that  have  come  to  you  from 
your  study  of  the  teachings  of  Jesus. 

Write  down  In  your  own  words  the  answer  to  the  following 
great  questions:  What  do  I  believe  about  God?  How  should 
a  man  live  with  God?  How  should  a  man  live  with  his  fellow 
men?  What  may  w^e  hope  for  the  future?  After  you  have 
Written  these  answers,  consider  how  far  your  faith  has  been 
molded  by  Jesus  Christ, 


^,  INDEX  TO  TOPICS 

The  letter  /  indicates  that  the  reference  extends  to  the  next  page, 
the  letters  ff  that  it  includes  two  or  more  following  pages. 


Allegorizing,  31. 
Asceticism,  13  Iff. 
Aspiration,  67ff.,  86. 
Authority  of  Jesus,   16f.,   22f., 
193ff. 

Baptism,  179. 

Beatitudes,  69f. 

Bible,  see  Old  Testament  and 

Scriptm'es. 
Brotherhood,  92ff.,  106. 

Character  of  Jesus,  197ff.,  204ff. 
ChUd,  spirit  of,  71f.;  the  day  of, 

72f. 
Church,  95ff.,  164,  177f. 
Coming   of   Jesus,    purpose   of, 

182ff. 
Coming  of  Kingdom,  170ff. 

Death  of  Jesus,  185ff. 
Decision  of  character,  76ff.,  79. 
Democracy,  104. 
Devotion,  75ff.,  85f.;  with  Jesus, 
202. 

Example  of  Jesus,  184f.,  208. 

Faith,  G4f.,  87f.;  see  also  Trust. 
Fasting,  177. 

Father,  34ff.,  57;  see  also  God. 
Feai',  of  God,  38f . ;  of  the  world, 

131f. 
FeUowship,  95f.,  116,  162ff. 
Fellowship  with  God,  53;  power 

of,  55f.;  cost  of,  155. 
Force,  Use  of,  11  Iff..  128ff. 
Forgiveness,  53,  lOSff.,  149,  153. 
Forms,  Religious,  174ff. 
Friendliness  of  Jesus,  197f. 


Giving,  140ff.,  see  also  Steward- 
ship. 

God,  Jewish  doctrine,  34;  with 
prophets,  35;  as  Father,  34ff. 
mercy  of,   36f.;   love  of,   37 
as  King,  38f.;  holiness,  40f. 
vision  of,  80f.,  84;  source  of 
Jesus'  teachings,  92;  different 
conceptions    of,    107;    as    su- 
preme good,  149;  of  all,  160f. 

Goodness,  49f.,  73f. 

Good  WUl,  106ff. 

Grace,  51f.,  106ff. 

Holy  Spirit,  56. 

Holiness,  40f . ;  of  Jesus,  207. 

Humility,  67ff.;  of  Jesus,  204f. 

In  Jesus'  Name,  88. 
Imitableness  of  Jesus,  209. 
Impurity,  45. 

Importunity  in  prayer,  88f . 
Independence  of  Jesus,  200. 
Institutions,  Religious,  176f. 
Internationalism,  122ff.,  127f. 

Judge,  Jesus  as,  195. 
Judgment,  42,  116f. 

Kingdom  of  God,  meaning,  15, 
146f.;  as  a  good,  148ff.;  as 
life,_  150f.;  as  task,  152ff.; 
as  inward  (spiritual),  158ff.; 
as  outward  (social),  160ff.;  as 
futm'e,  166ff.;  as  present, 
167ff.;  coming  of,  170ff.;  es- 
tablishment, 183ff. 

Kingdom  of  Heaven,  147f.;  see 
also  Kingdom  of  God. 


21' 


218 


THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 


Legalism,  in  interpretation  of 
Jesus,  32,  48;  Jewish,  44. 

Life,  Eternal,  154f. 

Literalism,  32,  48. 

Loneliness  of  Jesus,  199f. 

Lord,  Jesus  as,  193ff. 

Lord's  Prayer,  89f . 

Lord's  Supper,  180. 

Love,  40f.,  49;  of  Jesus,  199, 
201. 

Loyalty,  135;  of  Jesus,  201f.; 
see  also  Devotion. 

Man,  Reverence  for,  99ff.;  God's 

method  with,  101. 
Master,  Jesus  as,  193ff. 
Method  of  Jesus'  Teaching,  25ff. 
Millennium,  171. 
Mission  of  Jesus,  182ff . 
Missions,  120. 
Money;  see  Wealth. 

Nation,  122ff.,  126f.,  156f. 

Obedience,  78ff.,  81f.;  of  Jesus, 

205. 
Old  Testament,   Jesus'   use  of, 

20£f.;  love  in,  106. 

Parables,  29ff. 

Passive  Resistance,  llOff. 

Patriotism,  123,  126f. 

Peace,  79. 

Person    of    Jesus    in    his    Own 

Thought,  189ff. 
Pharisees,  176. 

Picture  Teaching  of  Jesus,  28. 
Poetry  of  Jesus,  28ff . 
Poor,  134f. 
Poverty,  134. 
Prayer,  83ff. 
Preaching  of  Jesus,  184. 
PremiUennialism,  170£f. 
Pride,  135. 
Property,  139£f. 
Prophets,    Idea    of    God,    35; 

Jesus  and,  21;  conception  of 

service  of  God,  117f. 


Religion,   of  the   spirit,   46;   of 

fellowship,  53f.,  174ff. 
Repentance,  59ff. 
Reverence,  for  man,  99ff.,  102ff.; 

for  self,  102. 
Riches;  see  Wealth. 
Righteousness,  43ff.,   59,   161f.; 

social,  46f. 
Retaliation,  107f. 

Sabbath,  177. 

Sacraments,  179. 

Sacrifice,  118ff. 

Sanctification,  55f . 

Saviour,  105,  192ff. 

Scorn,  102f. 

Scribes,  176. 

Scriptures,  180. 

Second  Mile  Religion,  llOf. 

Secularism,  131ff. 

Selfishness,  135f. 

Sermon  on  Mount,  44ff. 

Service,  114£f.;  with  Jesus,  185. 

Severity  of  Jesus,  200f . 

Sin,  59ff.;  sense  of,  41. 

Sinlessness  of  Jesus,  206. 

Sinners,    73f.;   pictures   of,    63; 

Jesus'  Intercourse  with,  63f.; 

attitude  toward,  lOOf . 
Slavery,  103f. 

Social  Nature  of  Kingdom,  160ff . 
Social  Problems,  104. 
Social  Service,  163f . 
Son  of  Man,  192. 
Sonship,    47;   as   a   gift,    51ff.; 

and  the  new  birth,  56;  secret 

of,  57;  scope  of,  57;  as  rule, 

93ff.;  of  Jesus,  190£f. 
Spirit  of  the  Kingdom,  nature 

of,  161f. 
Stewardship,  138ff.;  of  nations, 

124f. 
Sunday,  178f. 
Superstition,  40f . 
Sympathy  of  Jesus,  198f . 
Synagogue,  176. 

Teaching  of  Jesus,  place  and  sig- 


nificance,  15ff.;  character  and 
method,  25ff.;  as  purpose  of 
coming,  184. 

Temple,  176. 

Tithing,  144;  see  also  Steward- 
ship. 

Trust,  79ff.,  84f.;  with  Jesus, 
205. 


INDEX  TO  TOPICS 

Truthfulness,  45f . 


219 


War,  124f.,  128f. 
Wealth,  133ff.,  138f.,  141ff. 
Woman,  place  of,  lOSf. 
World,  ISlff. 
Worldliness,  ISlff. 
Worship,  117. 


INDEX  TO  SCRIPTURE  PASSAGES 

Roman  numerals  refer  to  the  chapters  in  which  the  p>assages  so 
marked  are  treated  most  fully. 

Arabic  numerals  in  the  right  hand  column  refer  to  pages. 


Chapter 

or  Page 

Exodus 

20.7,13 

45 

21.24 

22 

Leviticus 

Chs.  11-15 

22 

19.12 

45 

24.19,20 

22 

24.20 

47 

Numbers 

18.20-32 

144 

20.  2 

.    45 

Deuteronomy 

6.4 

35 

10.18,19 

106 

14.  22,  26,  28,  29 

1  144 

15.7-11 

106 

19.21 

22,47 

23.  21 

45 

24.1 

22 

24.17-22 

106 

Psalms 

2 

21 

18.35 

101 

23 

53 

40.8 

111 

50.7-15 

118 

51.10 

46 

68.5 

36 

89.27,28 

36 

103.3-14 

52 

103.13 

Isaiah 

36 

1.10-17 

175 

1.18 

101 

11.4 

21 

35.5 

168 

40 

211 

52. 13  to  53. 12.. 

21 

57.15 

52 

58.6,7 

106 

Chapter 
or  Page 

Isaiah  (continued) 

61 168 

61.1,2 21 

63.9 52 

Jeremiah 

7.22,23 118 

31.31-33 46 

31.31-34 23 

Daniel 

7.13 192 

Hosea 

11.1 51 

11.1,4 101 

Micah 

6.7 118 

6.8. 106 

Zechariah 

7.9 106 

Matthew 

4.4,7,10 111,42 

4.23 17 

5.1-12 VII,  74 

5.3-9 XIX,  165 

5.6 156 

5.8 XVII,      70, 

150,  151 

5.13-16 II,  XVI,  32, 

136,      145, 
163,  165 

5.17 23 

5.17-48 IV,  50 

5.20 154 

5.21-24 XI,  103,105 

5.22,28,34,39.  189 

5.23,24 109 

5.23,24,38-48.  XII,  113 

5.29,30 32,156 

5.33-37 45 

5.34 22 

5.38,39 1,23 

220 


INDEX  TO  SCEIPTUEE  PASSAGES 


221 


Chapter 
or  Page 

Matthew  (continued) 

5.38-42 IV,    47,    49, 

50  95 

5.38-48 X,  97, 109 

5.43-48 Ill,       XIV, 

36,  42,  50, 
94,123,130, 
160 

5.45 47,57 

5.45-48 52 

5.47 108 

5.48 47 

6.1-18 XXI,      175, 

180 

6.5-15 IX,  91 

6.9 111,42 

6.  9-13 90 

6.10 XVII,  151 

6.10,33 XVII,  XIX, 

157,  162, 
165 

6.12-15 XII,  88, 108, 

113 

6.16,17 23 

6.19-34 VIII,      XV, 

82 

6.19,24 133 

6. 22,  23 VI,  46, 65 

6.26-30 132 

6.31,32 84 

6.33 49,148 

6.33,34 156 

6.38-48 212 

7 29 

7.7 87 

7.7,8 86 

7.7-11 IX,  60,91 

7. 11 VI,  65 

7. 9-11 84 

7. 12 92 

7.13,14 156 

7. 14,  21 XVII,     150, 

151 

7.15-23 XVIII,  154, 

156,  157, 
162 

7.15-27 77 

7. 21 49 


Chapter 
or  Page 

Matthew  (continued) 

7.21,24 213 

7.21-27 VIII,  82 

7. 24,  25 28 

7.26,27 29 

7.28,29 1,23 

8.10 65 

9.10-13 60 

9.13 XXII,    183, 

188 

9.15 186 

9.36 XXIV,   199, 

203 

10.16 139 

10.16-39 VIII,  75,  81, 

82 

10.26,28 80 

10.  28-31 39,  42 

10. 29 80 

10. 29-31 37, 132 

10.32,33 XVI,      140, 

145 

11.2-6 XX,  173 

11.4,5 168 

11.12 156,168 

11.18,19 132 

11.20 62 

11.20-24 153 

11.25 Ill,   38,   42, 

87,  204 
11.25-30 V,     XXIII, 

57,  58, 167, 

191,195,209 

11.27 22,184,200 

11.28 80 

11.28,29 184 

12.6,41,42 XXIII,  189, 

195 

12.35 60 

12.  41 62 

12.  22-45 195 

12.46-50 154 

13.22 135 

13,33 163 

13.34 11,32 

13.43 166 

13.44-46 XVII,     151, 

169 


ttsji 


THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 


Chapter 
or  Page 

Matthew  (continued) 

13.51,52 XVI,      140, 

145 
16.13-17 XXm,  190, 

195 

16.18 178 

17.12 186 

18.1-4 VII,  74 

18.1-5 71 

18.1-14 XI,  105 

18.3,4 XIX,      153, 

159,  165 

18.10 103 

18.17 178 

18.21-35 108,113 

20.1-16 111,30,37,42 

21.28,29 63 

21.31,32 168 

21.33-43 XIV,       124, 

130,  157 

22.29-32 215 

22.35-40 93 

22.37-40 50 

23.8-10 XXIII,    22, 

194, 195 
23.8-12 XIV,      123, 

130 

23.13-36 XXIV,  203 

23.29-31 186 

24.45-51 138 

25.1-13 138 

25.14-30 XVI,      138, 

145 

25.31-34 XXm,195 

25.31-46 XIII,      116, 

121, 161 

25.31-46 174,215 

25.34 149,166 

25.34-40 97 

25.35,36 172 

25.45 118 

26.28 XVII,  151 

26.39 Ill,     XXV, 

42,209 

27.42 202 

28.16-20 XVI,      140, 

145 
28.19 179 


Chapter 
or  Page 

Mark 

1.11 190 

1.14,15 VI,    62,    65, 

184 
1.15 XX,  64, 166, 

173 

1.16-20 VIII,  75,  82 

1.38 XXII,    182, 

188 
2. 14r-17 XXIV,  197, 

203 

2.18-22 1,23,177 

2.18-28 XXI,  180 

2.19 XIX,     XX, 

165, 173 

2.23-28 177 

2.23  to3. 6 178 

2.28 22 

3.35 49,97 

4.1-9 I,  XVI,   19, 

23, 140, 145 

4.26-29 169 

5.34 65 

6.5 65 

6.12 62 

7.1-23 XXI,      176, 

180 

7.6-13 21 

7.7,8 83 

7.14-23 1,22,23 

8.29-31 XXII,  188 

8.31 186 

8.31-37 XIII,       118 

121 

8.33 XXIV,  203 

8.35 119 

8.36,37 XI,  100,  105 

9.1 XX,  173 

9.23,24 VI,  65 

9.31 XXII,    186, 

188 

9. 35 161 

9.37-42 XIII,      116, 

121 

9. 42 100 

10. 2-12 I,  22, 23 

10.13-16 VII,  71, 74 

10. 17-22 133 


INDEX  TO  SCEIPTURE  PASSAGES 


223 


Chapter 
or  Page 

Mark  (continued) 

10.17,23,30...  XVII,     150, 

151   ' 

10.17-27 XV,  137 

10.23,25 133 

10.30 48 

10.33,34 XXII,    186, 

188 
10.35-45 XIII,      115, 

121 
10.42-45 XIX,      161, 

163,      165, 

185,  188 
10.45 XXIII,  183, 

185,      187, 

193,  195 

11.15-17 XXV,  209 

11.15-18 XXI,      130, 

176,  180 

11.17 124 

11.22-24 84 

11.22-25 IX,  91 

11.24 87 

11.25 88 

12.6-8 186 

12.26 21 

12. 26,  29-31 ...   I,  23 
13.1,2 XXI,      176, 

180 

14.6-9 XXIV,  203 

14.14 184 

14.22-25 XXII,  188 

14.24 183,187 

14.32 87 

14.32-35 XXV,  209 

15.2-5 XXV,  209 

Luke 

1.77 XVII,    149, 

151 

2.41-52 190 

2.49 XXI,      176, 

180 

3. 21 86 

4.16-21 XXI,      176, 

180 
4.17-21 XX,        173, 

182,  188 
4.18 114,183 


Chapter 
or  Page 

Luke  (continued) 

4. 21 168 

5.16 86 

6.12 87 

7.36-50 63 

7.50 VI,  65 

8.1-3 133 

9.18,28 87 

9.  51 205 

9.57-62 VIII,  76,  82 

10.18 XX,        149, 

168,  173 

10.23,24 XXIII,  190, 

195 

10.25-37 XIII,      116, 

121 

10.29-37 11,32 

11.2-4 90 

11.2 84 

11.5-13 IX,  88,  91 

11.20 VI,  65, 149 

11.29-32 153 

11.33-44 IV,50 

12.4,5 39 

12.4-7 VIII,82 

12. 13-21 XV,  137 

12.15 134 

12.19 135 

12.  29-32 XVII,  151 

12.32 151 

12.50 186 

13.1-5 II,    VI,    26, 

32,65 

13. 18-21 XX,        169, 

173 

13. 24 156 

13.28-30 XX,  173 

13.  29 166 

13. 31-35 186 

14. 1 133 

14.  26 32 

15. 1.  2, 11-24  . .  30 

15.  i;  2, 11-32  . .  52,  58 

15. 1-10 100, 105 

15.7,10 62 

15.  7, 10, 17-19  .  VI,  65 

15.  7, 10,  21 153 

15.11-24 11,32 


324 


THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 


Chapter 
or  Page 

Luke  (continued) 

15.11-32 160 

15.20-24 52 

15.25-32 X,  41,  93,  97 

16. 1-12 29 

16.1-13 XVI,      139, 

145 

16. 19-31 XV,  137 

16.22 215 

17.20,21 XIX,      159, 

165 

18.1-8 IX,  89, 91 

18.9-14 VII,  60,  74 

18.13 63 

18.29 48 

19.2,5 133 

19.10 XXII,    183, 

188 
21.31,32 XX,        167, 

173 
22.18 XX,        167, 

173 

22.20 23 

22.27 120,185 

22.42 88 

23.46 205 

24.47 XVII,     149, 

151 
John 

3.1-16 V,58 

3.3 56 

3.3-5 150 

3.15 150 

3.19 195 

4.1,2 179 

4.34 202,205 

4.31-35 203 


Chapter 
or  Page 

John  (continued) 

4.32-34 XXIV,  203 

4. 36 150 

5.24,39 150 

6.40,54,68 150 

8.1-11 XI,  63,  101, 

105 

10.28 150 

12.25 150 

13.12-15 115 

13.15 184 

14.13,14 88 

14.27b 80 

15.16 88 

16. 23,  24, 26 .  .  .  88 

17.2,3 150 

17.11 40 

18.22,23 Ill 

18.36 150 

19.30 202 

Romans 

7 44 

8.9,14,15 57 

2  Corinthians 

4.6 185 

7.11 62 

12.7-10 88 

Galatians 

4.5,6 57 

5.6 23 

Philippians 

2.5-11 193 

Colossians 

2.16,17 23,179 

Revelation 

3.20 101 


Date  Due 

Ji  7  m 

a-  26  "39 

mi   'm 

MR  4   '53 

"H. 

^ 

